


In Your Eyes

by MellyHorror



Category: The 100 (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Soulmates, F/M, In Your Eyes AU, Soulmates AU
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-09-04
Updated: 2017-03-23
Packaged: 2018-04-18 22:35:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 10
Words: 34,191
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4722878
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MellyHorror/pseuds/MellyHorror
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Up on the Ark, Clarke's life is slipping away before her eyes. Her days are spent in class and her nights in the clinic watching over patients. Her dreams of the Earth seem farther and farther away, until one night she wakes to find herself perched in a tree looking up at the stars.</p><p>Down on Earth, Bellamy's life is speeding by. His days are spent trying to keep his people alive and his sister out of trouble. His dreams of a happy peaceful life seem farther away every day, until one night he climbs into a tree and suddenly he's sitting in a cozy bed in the Ark.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This fic is based on the 2014 movie In Your Eyes.  
> The rating may change depending.

_**In Your Eyes** _

  


  


  


_Eleven Years Ago_

_Clarke_

  


  


Clarke had always felt comfortable in the clinic. Since she was two she'd been coming to the clinic with her mother, “a bright smiling face is always the best medicine” her mother told her. Clarke always made sure to smile bright at those who looked the most ill, and they'd always smile back at her brightly, which made her feel accomplished.

  


However, today was different; she was supposed to be in class. She _loved_ class, but today was more special than usual. They were starting the section on the animals of Earth, and it was a subject Clarke was fascinated with. She'd found some books during the summer at the exchange on animals and she'd read them back to back twice. 

  


Her favorite animals were horses, and she knew _everything_ about horses. Wells didn't know anything about horses, and he was supposed to know everything. Clarke couldn't wait to show off in class, and prove that she was smart, too. Not that Wells didn't already know, but she liked to gloat.

  


Except, no, she couldn't because her mom was dragging her off to the clinic in Go-Sci instead of toward her class room on Alpha Station to sit in a stuffy room bored out of her mind without a book on horses in sight.

  


“Mom, why do I have to go to the clinic today?” Clarke pouted, dragging her feet heavily as she followed her mothers brisk pace toward the Med Station. 

  


Abby Griffin stopped in her tracks, turning around to look sternly down at her daughter before she spoke, “Because something very important is happening today, and I need to make sure you're safe.” her mother answered cryptically, “you don't want to go down to engineering with your father, do you?”

  


“Will Raven be there?” Clarke asked hopefully, watching her mothers triumphant grin fall. Really, Abby should have known better. Clarke _always_ wanted to find Raven. The young wannabe mechanic was always hanging around Mecha Station, after all she lived there. But most often she was in Clarke's father's office trying to learn everything she could to get ahead of her classmates.

  


She swore she'd be the youngest zero-g mechanic on the ship, Clarke believed her.

  


Her mom reached back and tugged Clarke to her side tightly, “No sweetie, Raven wont be there today. But Wells will be in the clinic so you two can play chess, is that okay with you?” Clarke nodded sadly. She liked Wells, he was her best friend, but she didn't want to play chess today, she wanted to learn about horses or talk about nonsense with Raven.

  


The clinic was packed when they reached it, two long lines leading in full of people chattering excitedly. Clarke couldn't understand most of what they were talking about. A dropship, supplies, lottery. It didn't make any sense to her, so she just followed her mother to the tiny little closed off room where Wells was already sitting down to set up the chess table.

  


“You and Wells stay here. I'll be back around lunch time, okay?” Clarke nodded obediently, perching in a chair opposite Wells at the table. Her mom nodded, satisfied, and walked away. Clarke got lost in the game, as she usually did, eager to beat Wells. It took them almost three hours to complete their game, lots of time was spent plotting moves and re-plotting moves. But when they finished they were both ready to take a break. 

  


It was Clarke's idea to us their secret escape hatch.

  


“Come on Wells, we do it _all the time_. What's the big deal?” she taunted when he protested. 

  


His nostrils flared and he raised his chin defiantly, “My dad told me it was important to stay here.” 

  


“Do you _always_ do what your dad says?” Clarke prodded, eyeing Wells carefully, her blue eyes narrowing mischievously as she watched his resolve weaken. She was going whether he came with or not and she was pushing her chair up against the wall and loosening the air vent already when he made his choice. He had to go with her, if only for her own safety. 

  


Besides what would he tell Abby if she came back and Clarke was gone and he wasn't? He could hear it now, _no Doctor Griffin, I don't know where Clarke went. She just disappeared._ Yeah right.

  


Clarke hoisted herself up into the air vent with practiced ease, sliding in and rolling carefully around in the vent while Wells put her chair back at the table. They worked as a team, Clarke always crawled in first and turned around to help Wells inside, since she was small enough to twist around completely without getting stuck. 

  


When he was done putting the chair away he picked up the vent cover, tucked it under his chin and grabbed Clarke's hand. He reached his other hand up and grabbed the bottom of the vent and together they pulled him up into the vent. Inside he managed to twist enough to put the vent back on and then he followed Clarke's path through the vents.

  


They'd discovered the vents last year when her mother and his father had decided that they needed to be kept under a watchful eye after they nearly got stuck in a room that was sealing off for the night without oxygen. Clarke had gotten bored, she wanted to go see her dad and Raven, and then she'd wondered if she could fit through the vents.

  


When her mom found her hours later back in her bed she'd turned red in the face and grounded Clarke for a month. Jackson had to spend his days sorting medical supplies with Clarke practically tethered to him. He kept muttering about who was really being punished and Clarke tried to pretend she didn't find it funny.

  


The vents were roomy, at least roomy enough for two six year olds, but they got stuffy fast. Clarke was crawling fast toward the vent that let out on the other side of the clinic near the all but abandoned Earth monitoring room. When she reached the vent, however, there were people talking outside and feet rushing back and forth.

  


Wells and Clarke sat hunched over in front of it for what felt like hours waiting for the hallway to clear. Clarke thought she was going to suffocate by the time the hallway was cleared and she all but shoved Wells out before falling down herself. She sagged against the cool metal wall and hauled in deep breaths for the next five minutes.

  


“Why were all of these people out here?” Clarke asked, glancing at Wells.

  


“Who knows. Probably just the quickest short cut to avoid those long lines out of the clinic. So, where are we going today?” Wells asked, glancing down the hallway toward the old Earth monitoring station. His jaw dropped open.

  


Clarke's eyes followed his stare and they widened, “The lights, _the lights are on Wells!_ ” she scrambled to her feet without hesitation, bolting toward the door. Wells was right behind her, slowing once they got near the door, “we _have_ to get in there.” Clarke declared, looking up, there wasn't an air vent in the hallway that would lead into the room and the door was locked with a pass code.

  


She frowned.

  


“Clarke, we should just go somewhere else. They doors are locked and if someone catches us down here...” He was always the first to get worried about rules. 

  


“Well if you want to go back and play chess, _fine_.” Clarke huffed realizing he was right about not being able to get into the room. At least not from outside. “I'll just go find Raven, she'll help me. She's seven, she's _cool._ ” she stomped away from Wells, her feet carrying her from memory to Mecha Station in search of her non-rule-abiding best friend.

  


The halls were surprisingly empty, usually mechanics and techs were everywhere running around like the Ark was falling out of the sky, but even her fathers office was empty. There wasn't a soul in sight, which meant she had no clue where to find Raven.

  


She knew Raven's living quarters were _somewhere_ on Mecha Station, but she'd never been invited, so there was no way that she would be able to find her apartment, and she was starting to feel a bit woozy and cold. After checking her father's office on more time, it was definitely empty, she started her way back toward the clinic, trying to think up an excuse as to why she was outside of the clinic. 

  


Clarke was wandering down an empty hallway one second, the next she was sitting somewhere, strapped in, people were all around, chattering excitedly. She had no idea where she was, she'd never seen this part of the Ark before. She tried to look around, but when she did she was back in the hallway, alone and in silence, yet at the same time she was back in that seat, staring at a woman with brown hair and tired eyes.

  


**Where's Octavia?** A boy asked right beside her, she whipped her head from side to side, but she was still alone.

  


“Who said that?” Clarke asked. She was back in the hallway, and she was still alone. Her heart was hammering in her throat, her fingers were shaking. She needed to get back to the clinic now. Running wasn't allowed on the Ark, but Clarke didn't care-what rule hadn't she broken today? She slid around a corner, stumbling when suddenly she was back in that seat. She crashed to her knees, grabbing her head. 

  


The same woman as before was sitting across from her, now along with a young girl about Clarke's age with long black hair and wide scared eyes. The woman was smoothing her hair lovingly, and whispering. Clarke couldn't hear her. 

  


She was back in the hallway, leaning against a wall panting heavily. Her fingers were quaking and her knees gave out the first time she tried to stand, but eventually she made it to her feet and set off toward the clinic again. 

  


She could see the clinic doors, they were _right there_. The Ark shuddered and something made a loud bang, Clarke caught herself on the wall, nearly falling down again. The lights flickered, and then she was back in that seat. The woman and girl across from her were gripping the red belts tightly, people were screaming, Clarke looked down and she was clinging to her red belts too. 

  


Except.

  


Except, _no,_ those weren't her hands, those weren't her clothes. She wasn't hanging onto the straps, someone with large tan hands was clinging to them, and then she was looking around frantically. Jaha was on a small screen above the seats, talking, but everyone else was yelling and Clarke couldn't hear anything.

  


There was a hard drop, the lights flickered, something felt like it smacked into the back of her head, and she crumpled to the ground. The last thing she heard was someone screaming one name, loudly, completely terrified before she lost all sense of the world around her.

  


“ _ **Bellamy!”**_


	2. Chapter 2

  


  


_Present Day_

_Clarke_

  


“Earth to Griffin!” Raven's voice finally broke her friend out of the stupor she'd been stuck in. Clarke's blue eyes searched in front of her until she found Raven and smiled sheepishly, “you wanna pass me that wrench?” 

  


“Sure.” Clarke answered, reaching a toe out to kick it gently across the floor to where Raven was sitting, hunched over some old radio that her supervisor had her working on. She'd been muttering to herself for the past three hours about how stupid the plans were and how they weren't going to work but she kept at it, and Clarke got bored.

  


Her fingers were itching to draw, but she'd left her charcoal and paper back in her bedroom where it would be safe. Instead she watched Raven work, admiring the dedication her best friend had to her dream. She had grease on her face, sweat was beading on her forehead and her hair was in the messiest ponytail Clarke had ever seen, but she looked genuinely interested in whatever it was Wick was having her do.

  


Clarke wished that she had the same passion for medicine that Raven had for mechanics. Sure, Clarke _loved_ to help people. She loved to make people feel better, but she didn't want to be a doctor. Sometimes she wondered if it was just because she didn't want to live up to the expectations set by her mother, the Chief Medical Officer on the Ark, that her passion wasn't as strong as Raven's.

  


But then she'd stay up late, sitting in the small space between her bed and the wall, staring out the window down at the giant blue planet beneath them, and she'd realize that it was because her one true passion was Earth. She knew that the dream wasn't too far fetched, only eleven years ago they'd sent down 200 people from factory station to see if the Earth was survivable after an oxygen scare. 

  


The launch was something nobody talked about. It wasn't necessarily forbidden, and sometimes the older kids who remembered it would whisper about it in class, but mostly everyone just pretended it didn't happen. It was easier that way, but for three weeks after the drop eleven years ago, the Ark talked about nothing but the launch.

  


Every corner of the Ark was filled with chatter about those people on the ground building a settlement, building a home, a real forever home. The Earth was survivable, the Earth was safe. The monitoring bands showed strong vitals, those on the ground reported back animals, and water, and safety, _home._

  


Then, on the first day of the forth week, communication cut off. 

  


The radios were useless, there would be no communication to the ground unless those down there could get it working. They hadn't sent engineers. They'd sent factory workers, a two families from Agro station, two doctors, some guards, but no engineers. The Ark needed them to help build more ships. 

  


The wrist bands lasted longer, but eventually they too disappeared, too.

  


Everyone knew about the first to die; Octavia Blake. 

  


A second child, the first person to set foot on the Earth in 90 years, and the first person from the Sky to die on the ground. Her mother had been given a choice, let Octavia and her brother be taken to the Care Center on the Ark and be floated, or the three of them could take their chance in the dropship. 

  


It was the most unfair decision you could force a mother to make, and when Octavia had come into the clinic with her mother to get a wristband she'd started panicking. It took Abby an hour to calm Octavia down. Promises that the Earth would be safe and fun and she'd be _okay_. 

  


She'd been the first to die and Abby took the blame herself.

  


She was a mess for weeks, Clarke remembered it vividly as the only time she'd ever seen her mother truly emotional about anything. And then came the fateful day when the tiles in the Earth Monitoring Station went dark. All at once, the Earth was gone. Abby stopped being emotional then, went back to work full time in the clinic, never bringing up the Earth or Octavia Blake again.

  


Everyone in the Ark eventually let it fade into the background, and now there were kids who didn't even know half of a station had been dropped to the Earth. They didn't know who Octavia Blake was, they didn't know that the Earth was survivable. They just knew that the Earth was the big blue dream out the window of their forever home.

  


Clarke shifted her weight, shaking her leg to keep it from falling asleep, and glanced at the clock above Raven's head. It was almost 9, which meant her shift in the hospital would be starting soon. 

  


“That excited about spending time with Murphy?” Raven joked, noticing the scowl on Clarke's face. Clarke gave her a flat look and Raven shook her head, “he's not so bad. A bit of a smart ass, though.” 

  


“It's been like five years since you went to school with him, and he was a year below you, you really think he's the same? Cause if so, I'll give you my scrubs and my badge and you can take care of him for the night.” Clarke chuckled, pulling her legs to crisscross in front of her.

  


Raven shook her head, “I'll pass, I'm not in the mood to shoot the shit with a criminal on bed rest.” 

  


“I should get changed. You and Harper still fighting?” Clarke asked, Raven nodded, “save me some covers tonight then.” she ordered before walking out, carefully edging around her friends project. Raven didn't answer and Clarke made a mental note to send her a message to make sure she actually went back to their apartment tonight.

  


Raven had spent more than one night on the floor of the workshop after working all night to complete some work project, and then she'd come to Clarke in the morning begging for a massage to work out the kinks in her back before she had to get to work, and Clarke didn't want to be roused at 8 am just to give her friend a back massage.

  


The walk from Mecha to Alpha station took Clarke through every station on the Ark except for the Prison station. When she was younger her mother used to worry that she'd get lost or end up trapped during a flare alone, so Clarke had memorized the entire layout of the Ark just so she could walk to he dads office alone.

  


Clarke figured by now she could walk the entirety of the Ark blind folded and not get lost, but her favorite time to wander the halls was after curfew. You had to have a special pass to be out past 9 pm. Engineers, mechanics and anyone who worked in Go-Sci were the only ones permitted out past curfew, and only if they were going to or from work. 

  


The empty halls always made the Ark seem bigger than it was. Tonight was no different, and as Clarke listened to the muffled chatter behind the closed apartment doors, she felt her feet dragging She wondered what it would be like to be part of a family like the ones behind these doors. The ones where the parents are home for dinner, and to tuck you in at night.

  


Her parents tried their best to be there, but they both had important jobs. Her father was the chief engineer and her mother the chief of medical, and together they never really had time to be a family. Clarke was lucky, she had her mother and her father, and her health. 

  


She knew she was better off simply because she was born on Alpha station instead of in Factory, but sometimes she was envious of the family bonds that everyone on Factory had. Even just neighbors were close throughout Factory station.

  


On Alpha Clarke couldn't even remember more than a handful of conversations with her neighbors except for the Jaha's, and even then their apartment was on the other side of Alpha by the guards. Clarke could practically feel the difference walking into Alpha. The muffled chatter was replaced with roaring silence.

  


She could even hear her shoes hitting the floor echoing around her. It was unsettling. 

  


It came as no surprise that their apartment was empty when Clarke walked in. Her mothers shift didn't end until Clarke arrived and her father was working on some system problem. She changed quickly into her scrubs, grabbed her pack of cards and her tablet before she raced out the door. 

  


Abby Griffin was slumped at a table nearly asleep when Clarke walked in. Her head snapped up when the door closed behind Clarke and she inhaled sharply, “you're early.” she tried to stifle her yawn as she planted her hands on the table in front of her to stretch her back; she must've been sleeping for awhile.

  


“Actually, I'm late.” Clarke corrected, setting her tablet and cards down in front of her mother. She walks over to the little scanner by the supply cabinet and types in her code before swiping her card. Once she's logged in her mother logged out and shuffled out with a tired wave to Clarke and the guard on duty.

  


Clarke isn't sure what his name is, he doesn't talk to her when she's here, but he stays for his full shift every night, unlike the other guards, so Clarke gives him a small smile and deals out her first round of solitaire for the night. As much as Clarke enjoyed working in the clinic at night it was starting to get more repetitive than she cared to admit. She missed having school and then coming here for a few hours, but she knew this was good practice for when she actually started working in a little less than a year.

  


Still, solitaire was starting to get boring.

  


She finished off the round she was working on, reshuffled her cards, and set the stack aside, picking up her tablet and sliding off the stool to check on her only two patients. 

  


The first was an older woman named Gladys who'd slipped broke her leg. Treatment for broken legs was difficult on the Ark, so she was being kept for a few weeks until she was able to put weight on it. She was asleep through most nights, so Clarke didn't have to worry about her too much, she'd maybe said two words to Clarke in the entire week she'd been here.

  


The second was a delinquent, John Murphy, who'd been locked up for theft a year prior.  His appendix had ruptured two nights ago and they wanted him kept in the clinic until he was fully healed, apparently it was a hassle to get a kid out of the sky box. He was mostly quiet, glaring at the guard on duty like it was his only mission in life, except during the fifteen minutes between guard shifts when they left him alone with Clarke.

  


Just because he was cuffed to the hospital bed didn't mean anything, he still found a million ways to get under Clarke's skin and tonight was no different. She was checking his vitals on her tablet when she heard the guard get up and leave. She barely had time to stifle a groan when the door slid shut behind him.

  


“Just you and me now, Princess.” Murphy grinned, enjoying the annoyed expression on Clarke's face way more than he should. Clarke tried to focus on the vitals in front of her, really she did, but Murphy wouldn't be ignored, “Ready to finish our debate from yesterday?”

  


Clarke rolled her eyes, “It's not a debate, John.” Clarke answered.

  


“Doc, you gotta admit sending half of factory station to die and never speaking about it again is pretty messed up.” Apparently the meds were stronger today, there had been a lot more expletives in yesterdays argument.

  


Clarke turned away from him, looking over Gladys' vitals. Everything was normal, as she expected. She set her tablet down on the table next to the cards and busied herself with checking over the vials and supplies they had. She didn't really _need_ to do inventory but she needed to do something while the guards changed shift.

  


“It's not like we cut off the contact with the ground.” she finally said, turning to face him, “the engineers are still working on getting the exodus ships ready to launch. They already have one more to replace the one we lost, so already we benefit from having them sent to the ground. We'll all get to go home. For real.”

  


Murphy answered bitterly, “Not the criminals. Do you think they'll float us first? Or just leave us here to die from starvation and oxygen deprivation.” His bluntness stunned her, she nearly dropped a vial of morphine. Sure she'd thought about it before, but there was no way that they could leave a bunch of kids to die. They Ark was pragmatic, not cruel.  “you okay, Clarke?” he asked softly.

  


“Yeah, John. I'm fine.” Clarke gave him a small smile, “they sent kids from the sky box down last time.”

  


He shook his head, laughing softly, “kids with families. Most of the kids in the Sky Box got no one left. Nobody to fight for our lives.” the bitterness in his voice wasn't harsh, like Clarke expected. More scared. It made Clarke's stomach twist. They both glanced at the door, the next guard wasn't due for five minutes.

  


“They can't leave you all here, Murphy. That'd be inhumane.”

  


Murphy snorted, “they'll float us all when we turn eighteen anyways, what's the difference?” he shook his head, “you're the only person on Phoenix that thinks we're anything more than wastes of oxygen and rations.”

  


Clarke felt like she'd been punched in the gut. Her teeth nibbled on the back of her lip as she closed up the cabinet, “If it was up to me, no children would die. Especially not for stupid infractions like stealing medicine for a sick mother.”  she looked up to meet his gaze and he nodded in a jerky motion.

  


Clarke had been coming into in the clinic to see her mother when Murphy had come in faking an illness in an attempt to get some medicine for his mothers asthma. He'd created some diversion, Clarke wasn't sure what, and he'd grabbed  the meds and tried to run, and ran smack into her in the hallway, the meds flying away from him as they both smacked into a wall.

  


His first night in the clinic had ended in the pair screaming at each other loud enough to rouse Gladys who glared at them both like they were stains on her white pants before she'd fallen asleep. The pair had exchanged a look and dissolved into laughter, the lingering resentment vanishing into playful friendship.

  


Clarke gave his leg a squeeze before heading back to her stool, dolling out her cards as the doors opened and a new guard came in. Clarke knew his name, it was Thomas, and he was a massive Dick. He sat down in his little chair by the wall, crossed his arms and glared at the wall above Clarke's head for his entire shift.

  


She couldn't focus on her game for very long, her mind drifting to the drop eleven years ago.

Clarke shook her head, trying to chase the thoughts away. She got up to check Murphy's bandages and make sure Gladys' leg wasn't swelling Thomas jumped up, one hand on his baton and hovered so close behind her that he was practically on top of her. Clarke wanted to turn around and shove him away, but she knew better. Murphy, however, did not.

  


“Close enough, Thomas? She's like half your age, maybe even younger than that. I don't think she's interested so you _might_ want to hop off her ass.” Clarke gave him a look and Murphy shrugged, grinning in a way that told her everything. _What are they gonna do? Put me in the box?_ Clarke smiled at him gratefully and moved on to Gladys', Thomas still following her.

  


When she sat back down at the table he dropped onto his seat, crossed his arms, and resumed glaring. Clarke tried to focus on the cards again, but her eyes were crossing and her head felt light and sloshy. She braced her elbows on the table and dropped her head into her hands, closing her eyes.

  


When she opened them she could have sworn she was staring down at impossibly large black boots walking across dirt and leaves and grass, but one blink and it was all gone. She blinked again, trying to focus again, but the cards were a blur, almost like a hologram over the black boots, now still against the ground. Those weren't her feet, and that was definitely the ground, but she was on the Ark, so what was she seeing?

  


Her mind thought back to that little girl with black hair and a red bow, and _**Bellamy**_. 

  


“You okay, Doc?” Murphy called. Clarke snapped out of the haze, nearly toppling out of her stool. She needed to get to her apartment. With shaky fingers she sent Raven and Jackson messages to come relieve her. She thought about calling her mother, but she didn't want to become a patient. She wanted to go home.

  


“I'm okay, Murphy.” she mumbled, glancing at Thomas out of the corner of her eye. He was glaring at her. Shocker.

  


Jackson and Raven arrived about the same time, and once again Thomas stood, hand on his baton and following Clarke around closely. Raven got between them while Clarke was punching out, and made sure to put herself between them as she walked Clarke out.

  


“See you tomorrow, Doc!” Murphy called after them.

  


“Bye Murphy.” Raven snapped. They both heard him laugh before the door shut behind them. Raven helped Clarke back to her apartment slowly. Getting Clarke out of her scrubs and into her sleep clothes before putting her in her bed, “I'm gonna take the couch, okay?”

  


“Thanks, Rae.” Clarke mumbled, “don't forget the squishy pillow.” her face was firmly planted in her pillow but she felt Raven tug the other pillow from the other side of the bed before she left the room. Clarke figured she must've fallen asleep at some point, but she couldn't remember when and she couldn't figure out why she was awake _now_.

  


She rolled over to her other side, trying to fall back asleep, but it was obvious that she was very much awake. She sat up, staring at the wall of her room tiredly, except the wall wasn't hers. It wasn't made of metal, it was made of _logs_. 

  


Someone was standing in front of her, a boy with short black hair and a gun. He looked angry, waving his arms around and screaming about something Clarke really couldn't understand.

  


“ _ **She's an adult you don't have any say in whether or not she gets with a grounder.”**_

  


“ **She's not an adult! She's barely seventeen Atom!”** she yelled back, except it wasn't her. It was a voice in her head and it sounded like it was coming from her, and god was that so confusing. She took a step closer to him and he took a step closer too, and then he pulled back and punched her hard in the jaw.

  


Clarke jolted off her bed onto the floor, taking out the lamp on her nightstand as she tumbled to the very metal floor of her room on the Ark. She was still trying to process what had just happened when Raven burst in, looking around frantically. 

  


Clarke rubbed her jaw absently, feeling a bruise already beginning to bloom. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow, I didn't expect to take so long writing this chapter for it to be so short.  
> Thank you so much for the feedback on the short chapter, I really wasn't expecting it! I hope you liked this chapter!
> 
> Just a heads up, much like the original books and the movie I'm going to be swapping POV's, only between Clarke and Bellamy. So here's Clarke's chapter, and up next we'll see how Bellamy's life is.


	3. Chapter 3

_Present Day_

_Bellamy_

  


It was finally starting to get warm again. The ice on the ground was melted, the grass was growing up through what was left of the snow, the trees in the woods were full of leaves, making it a lot cooler to trek through. Bellamy preferred the hot summer days with the Woods Clan hunting party to the winter days, hunkering down and praying for the cold to end. He couldn't wait for the cabins to be finished, to have his own.

  


The party was halted, discussing the best strategy for hunting boar. They'd caught one once, when Bellamy was still young. An accident really. Even among the grounders boars were tricky, they were fast and heavy, and one running at you was likely to ram a horn right through you with the weight of a boulder behind it. The general consensus was that it wasn't worth it, but this boar was eating their food supply.

  


Bellamy scanned the area around them carefully. He wasn't part of the hunting party, he was only here to keep an eye on Octavia, who was too busy batting her lashes at Lincoln to pay attention to the instructions about avoiding the boars tusks. 

  


Bellamy was trying not to scowl at the pair, its not like Lincoln was the worst grounder Octavia could have picked, but Bellamy still didn't like it. “Bellamy, find a tree. We don't need another body in the way.” Indra barked, her voice sending fear straight up his spine. _She_ was terrifying.

  


He nodded, looking at the trees around him as fast as he could. He found one with a low hanging branch and pulled him self up into it and out of the way. Even though he was technically supposed to be watching out for everyone he couldn't help but get distracted by everything around him. Being up in the trees was such a unique perspective, not like standing on the ground or like looking down at the ground from the Ark, something he really only remembered in flashes. 

  


The cool metal of the floors, the glass windows he had to stand on his tiptoes to see out of, the hole in the floor where Octavia hid during inspections, the little blonde girl in the clinic the day they got sent down. Though Bellamy was 11 when they were launched from the Ark most of his memories had turned fuzzy. He'd smashed his head pretty hard, he was lucky that Mr. Miller had spent enough time working the clinic to keep him stable until he healed on his own.

  


Bellamy's eyes flickered across the group on the ground. There were the usual grounders, Indra, their Heda's right hand, Anya the captain of the guard, her second Tris and Lincoln, as well as a handful of their hunters whom Bellamy hadn't been introduced. Then there were his people, Octavia, Atom, Roma and John, they were standing in a circle, listening intently to the hunters instructions.

  


Bellamy couldn't help but marvel at the sight, just months ago if this group had been together half of them, his half, would be dead. Now they were working together, teaching each other, growing together, and if Octavia had any say in it, bringing the two groups together as a family. 

  


He glanced down to his sister at the thought and found her making moon-eyes at Lincoln just as he expected. Bellamy couldn't blame her, and to be honest he'd pick Lincoln before anyone back at camp, but he still didn't like it. Lincoln was older than he was, but things like that didn't matter to the grounders. Things like that didn't matter to Octavia. She would probably be the first person on the ground to bring the two groups together, and she'd do it willingly, too.

  


Bellamy noticed, with a knot forming in his stomach, that Anya and Indra were observing their closeness as well. After the conversation they'd had with his mother this morning he wasn't sure that could bode well for the pair. They wanted a marriage to seal the truce between the grounders and the sky people.

  


At first they'd tried to convince his mother to marry him off to someone of their leaders choosing, but Aurora had fought back, after all they'd come down for a second chance, for freedom, not to be bossed around by those with more power than them once more. She agreed that a marriage would be a good idea, but only if both parties were interested in the marriage. Though she never named Octavia and Lincoln it was easily assumed that was who she was talking about.

  


According to tradition, if Octavia and Lincoln were to marry, Octavia would move into Lincoln's village with him and train to be a warrior. Bellamy looked at his sister again, hunched down behind a bush watching the boar with the same intense focus Lincoln had, and wondered if she was not already a grounder. Bellamy's eyes wandered to the boar, it was eating something, completely unaware of the hunting party sneaking up on it.

  


The take down happened fast, Tris made a bird-like call and Octavia and Roma dove into action, in a flurry of movement someone managed to get a spear through its eye and it was dead. The two hunters from the grounders clan showed them how to make an easy rack to carry it and they were off back toward camp, merry as can be.

  


Anya and Tris led the front, followed by their two hunters, the boar they'd caught for themselves slung across their shoulders. Octavia and Roma were close behind them, carrying their prize back to camp-Bellamy was willing to bet they were both grinning from ear to ear-, James and Atom flanking them while Bellamy, Lincoln and Indra brought up the back of the party.

  


While the front half of the group talked animatedly about the catch and comparing skinning techniques the trio in the back spent the entire hour trek back to camp and deafening silence. Indra without a doubt knew that Bellamy was privy to the conversation with his mother, and Lincoln had been told to do what it took to get Octavia to agree to the wedding, judging by the apprehension on his face as he watched the younger Blake walk ahead of them.

  


The group was met with excited cheers when they entered the camp with their catches, and everyone gathered around to watch them break down the boar and cook it. Someone brought out a brew the grounders had taught them and a fire was soon roaring in the middle of camp, signaling the final party of winter. Bellamy wasn't in the mood to party, instead he finished off the contents of the cup he was handed and headed toward the back of camp.

  


The guards on duty gave him odd glances but nobody stopped him as he made his way to the hole in the fence and slipped out beyond the walls of camp. It wasn't as dangerous to leave camp anymore, there were no more threats from the grounders, only the reapers, but they were easy to evade, and the mysterious mountain men the grounders talked about, and honestly? Bellamy thought that was just a load of crap.

  


Some mysterious men with guns and acid fog, living in Mount Weather? Yet Bellamy had been here for eleven years and not seen a single thing to suggest otherwise. Grounders were going missing, but there was nothing to say they just didn't just jump ship and head off with a camp or give up on Lexa's tyrannical reign. Or perhaps they just wanted to find the city of lights everyone talked about.

  


Either way, Bellamy wasn't concerned about anyone attacking him as he slipped out of the fence toward his favorite hiding place. As far as he knew not even any of the grounders knew about it, I mean he figured maybe they did but they just didn't care for it, but either way nobody else was ever around when he went there.

  


The hike took awhile, but really it was worth it. 

  


There were some hot springs he stumbled across one night after a particularly bad fight with his mother and Diana about attacking the grounders. He'd stormed off and up the hill, intent on destroying _something_ , anything. Instead he found, nestled in the middle of the woods hidden by a pile of hills, a hot spring.

  


Now he came up here a lot, anytime he was particularly stressed about something. He stripped down slowly, the cool air biting at his skin. It was still cold enough outside that being naked for long was uncomfortable so he quickly slipped into the springs, sighing in relief as the warmth seeped into his muscles. He let his head fall back and his eyelids fluttered closed, and suddenly he was back on the Ark.

  


He was in what he remembered to be the clinic, looking down at some woman laying in a hospital bed who looked like she may have broken her leg. When he opened his eyes, however, he was staring at a sky dotted in tiny white stars, the Ark blinking faintly among them, impossibly far away from the Earth. 

  


He exhaled, sinking beneath the water for a few moments and scrubbing his hands through his hair before reemerging and resting his head back against the ground again. When he closed his eyes this time all he saw was darkness, and he drifted peacefully in the state between awake and asleep until the lingering alcohol was out of his system. 

  


He stood up and wandered around for a bit to dry off before redressing and heading back down the hills into the woods. He walked with his head down, watching the way his boots crunched against the fallen leaves, making enough noise to scare off any animals and alert predators to his location. He didn't really care too much, at most they'd seen two panthers and a freakish monkey that wasn't native to these parts, but they were to the east, and he would be fine.

  


Except at some point his boots turned into a metal table with a game of solitaire doled out before him, a game which was not going well by the looks of it. Blonde hair framed him like a curtain and slender hands picked up a card to put it where it should go.

  


“ _ **You okay, Doc?”**_ someone called, and then Bellamy was looking at his feet again. He hurried back to camp, all too aware of the last time he'd felt like this, the last time he'd seen things that weren't possible, but the feeling all but faded as he got closer to camp, and soon he was back inside the walls.

  


He watched Indra make her way across camp with Octavia and Lincoln in tow, hands linked together, laughing and leaning into each other, Octavia had clearly been drinking, judging by the sway in her steps. It didn't take him much longer than a breath to cross the camp and duck behind his mother's tent, listening intently in the dark.

  


“It's just too soon. I'm not saying no-.”

  


“Mom, _please_ I've known Lincoln since I was little whats the big deal if we get mar-.”

  


“Octavia Blake.” Aurora scolded, “I understand that, I do, but you're still a child by our standards. You're only seventeen you cannot just run off and get married on a whim.”

  


Bellamy could practically hear Octavia's glare through the tent, but she didn't say another word, “Aurora, we've been patient with you, but there is only so much you can offer us to show that you're committed to this alliance. You warn us that your people could come down at anytime and you have no way of knowing what they're like, how they'll react, and yet you want us to blindly commit to this truce without any offer from you.”

  


“I'm not saying never, but she is still a child-.”

  


“Not by our standards. If she wishes to marry Lincoln and train to become a warrior she is of age to make that choice herself. You may be from the sky but you are down here now, and you'll have to make sacrifices to stay alive. I know you mean well, unlike Diana, and that you care for your daughter, but you cannot make empty promises much longer, Lexa will not stand for it.”

  


“Two months, and if Octavia still wishes to be married to Lincoln then she will be.” Aurora declared.

  


Bellamy wanted to bust right through the back of the tent, and he might have, if someone hadn't grabbed the back of his jacket and hauled him backwards off his feet,  “you may be the chancellors son but Indra will not take kindly to you snooping around on private conversations, Bellamy.” Atom warned, dragging him through the shadows toward his tent.

  


“She can't marry him.” Bellamy growled, ripping off his jacket. He balled it up and threw it as hard as he could into his pillow, “He's a grounder, he's older than I am! Fuck he should already be married and have kids by their standards!”

  


Atom rolled his eyes, standing in front of the entrance of Bellamy's tent, “she's an adult, you don't have any say in whether or not she gets with a grounder.”

  


Bellamy spun, enraged, “she's not an adult! She's barely seventeen, Atom!” Bellamy spat, his head feeling slightly fuzzy as he took a step closer to him. The younger boy didn't even hesitate, pulling back and punching Bellamy square in the jaw. Bellamy fell back into his bed in a defeated drunken heap, only moving to drag himself the rest of the way on his bed. He tried to pretend that he never saw the flash of the Alpha station apartment flash before him, as if he'd rolled out of one of the plush beds and onto the floor in a heap.

  


“Sleep it off, Blake. Your sisters a big girl, she can handle herself.” Atom gave him a stern glare before turning and sweeping out of Bellamy's tent.

  


“Yeah, you'd know.” he spat after his friend, glowering at the flaps of his tent. He was definitely more than a little drunk, whoever had made the brew had made it stronger than usual. Groaning Bellamy rolled onto his side, his back to the entrance of his tent, and buried his face in his furs.

  


In two months his baby sister was leaving and getting married to a grounder. There was nothing he could do to stop it. He flopped over onto his back two hours later, staring through the darkness. Life on the ground was supposed to be their salvation, their fresh start, their hope. Instead they were still having to make sacrifices. 

  


There had been a lot of them in that first drop, one hundred and thirty people hurtling through space to freedom. Except when they landed on the ground they weren't alone. There were people on the ground, they discovered about a week after communication shut off. People who had survived the nuclear war. They wanted war, they did not trust the sky people, and Diana Sydney rallied up enough troops to try and fight back.

  


Aurora Blake had put an end to that, meeting in secret with their leader, and sacrificing Diana and her small band of loyalists for the good of the rest of the group. _We came here for freedom, we want peace, and Diana Sydney only wants to rule._ Nobody opposed her. The peace had been just that, peace. But the grounders grew nervous as the years passed, knowing the Ark was still up there and could come down at any minute.

  


They wanted a marriage, a promise of those on the ground against those in the sky. He shifted on his bed one more time, still supremely uncomfortable. Just the thought of a potentially forced marriage, if O for some reason changed her mind, on someone from their group to a grounder just to seal an alliance. It made his skin itch. That wasn't supposed to be their life anymore. They were supposed to be free.

  


Bellamy laid in bed until the sun came up, the second the light spilled through the small crack in the flap of his tent he got up, put his boots on and marched out to relieve those on guard duty. Graham passed Bellamy his gun with a grateful smile and scampered off to have breakfast before he crawled into his tent for the night.

  


Bellamy watched him go, seeing the tired slump in his shoulders as he shuffled off, before taking his place on the fence, sinking down onto the small stool in the tiny station to look out over the grounds beyond the fence. Up on the Ark sunrises didn't happen, the first night on the ground Octavia described to Bellamy the sky being set on fire and Bellamy longed to stay awake enough to see it. 

  


The first time he saw the sunrise he was enraptured, he requested every morning shift so he'd have prime seats to every sunrise. He really didn't think he'd ever get tired of watching it. Sunsets were nice, but he found sunsets best spent with someone you were romantically involved with. Sunrises were perfect for being alone, for waking with the sun. 

  


Around noon he had been starting to drift off and his stomach was growling. Luckily it was almost time for the wall shift and he'd be able to go get breakfast, his mind was on the boar they'd caught and how they'd probably have eggs, and he wasn't pay any attention to his surroundings. He was startled to say the least at someone shouted up to him, “Blake!” he turned his head slowly, like it was a chore, and met the intense gaze of the woman who'd called his name.

  


Anya.

  


“Yes?” he called back.

  


“Your mother is having you and some guards accompany us back to camp to get supplies, hurry up and get breakfast.” he nodded to her, glancing at the person to her right, Sterling. He switched off with Bellamy, taking his gun and crawling up to his post. Bellamy brushed past Anya and headed into Mess to grab some breakfast.

  


-

  


The guards sent along turned out to just be Bellamy and Graham, and Octavia tagged along, too, hanging all over Lincoln the entire walk. Bellamy just hoped these supplies Anya told him about were in a cart, because out of the three of them only Graham and Bellamy would actually end up carrying anything, Octavia was only coming to spend time with Lincoln.

  


They all walk in silence, the grounders taking up the front on their horses, Lincoln and Octavia off to the left, and Bellamy and Graham off to the right bringing up the back. There was a reason horses were supposed to take up the back end, but the grounds wanted nothing to do with it, and Bellamy just didn't care enough to argue about it, instead he tried to focus on seeing the ground and ignoring the flashes of the Ark in his mind and the way the world kept trying to tilt out from under him.

  


When they broke for lunch Bellamy sank down at the base of a tree and put his head between his knees, taking slow shallow breaths. Everything was fuzzy, his head was throbbing behind his eyes and he felt like he was going to throw up. 

  


“Bellamy.” Lincoln whispered, holding out a cup, “drink this, it will help.”

  


Bellamy gave him a questioning look, but he was in no place to argue, and accepted the cup, sipping slowly. Mint, “how do you know this will help?” he asked, “you're a warrior not a healer.”

  


Lincoln cracked a smile, “my best friend is our healer.” he sat down beside Bellamy, leaning against the tree, “Octavia has told me about your episodes as a child. Our people have a legend about soulmates, who can see through each others eyes, to help lead them to each other. It is said to be a gift from the gods, to bring important leaders together. Maybe you are one of those important leaders.”

  


Bellamy chuckled dryly, “I am _not_ a leader, Lincoln.” 

  


“Not yet.” Lincoln agreed, “drink all of that before we move and you should at the very least make it to the village.” Bellamy nodded and Lincoln got up to sit down beside Octavia, nabbing a piece of jerky from the pouch in her lap. Bellamy took another sip of the drink, closing his eyes and resting his head against the tree.

  


“ _ **Clarke, you're needed in the clinic.”**_

  


He looked away from the mans back and down to the tablet in his hand where a picture of a boy with shaggy hair blinked on the screen, **“Dad, we're not done talking about this.”** Bellamy shook his head, taking another large gulp of his drink. His head hurt.

  


He wasn't a leader, and whatever he was seeing and hearing, they weren't a leader either. _Dad_. He sighed, “Lets go, Blake.” Anya called, Bellamy chugged the rest of it fast and slowly got to his feet, lifting his back onto his shoulder and falling in line at the back of the convoy. The trek took up the better part of the day, and it was nearly sundown when the entered the small city of Tondc. 

  


Bellamy and Graham sat alone for dinner, Graham more interested in his food than anyone else, and Bellamy more interested in Octavia's whereabouts than his food. She was sitting with Lincoln and the villages healer near the fire place, laughing and chatting with anyone that sat down to eat and bidding them a kind farewell when they left.

  


She refused to leave Lincoln's side and pointedly ignored Bellamy's glare in favor of tucking herself under Lincoln's arm, snuggling into his side like she was his wife. Which she very well could be soon, and everyone in the small village noticed it. “I'm going to bed.” Graham announced once he was finished, marching off to the small tent they'd set up for him. Bellamy nodded.

  


“Big brother, you worry too much.” Octavia told him, plopping down across from him, “and your staring is making everyone uncomfortable. Tone it down.”

  


Bellamy grunted in response, finally picking up his turkey leg and taking a bite, “You're not married yet, but everyone is already talking.”

  


“Good. That's the point, Bell. We have to know how they will react. This marriage could make or break our alliance, and you are not helping. Our people need this, and I don't care if you don't like it. I love Lincoln, and I'm going to marry him.” She shoved away from the table and marched back to Lincoln's side, sitting down and snuggling into him with a happy little smile on her face. 

  


Bellamy looked down at his food his appetite lost, set it back down and slouched off to his tent for the night.   


	4. Chapter 4

_Clarke_

  


Sleep was nice, her bed felt a little stiff today, but she didn't care, she was exhausted. After spending the better part of the day flashing between the weird dreams of the ground and back to life on the Ark Clarke was beyond ready to just sleep. Except- wait, didn't she already get out of bed and go to class? She distantly remembered dragging herself out of bed, getting dressed and grabbing a ration packet. 

  


Shit. 

  


“Miss Griffin, I understand you have a job in the clinic, but you need to pay attention when I'm teaching.” Clarke blinked slowly, trying to focus on her teacher standing at the front of the room, ignoring the staring classmates around her. She nodded her head, picking her tablet up from the desk where she'd dropped it when she fell asleep. She tried to pretend she doesn't hate the condescending way Miss Martin used her last name, as if a _Griffin_ should know better. She scowled down at her tablet, flipping through the pages of the lesson absently.

  


Generally Clarke loved class, she loved learning, even if it was never going to be practical, but Miss Martin was grating on her last nerves, as if sitting in class was more _important_ than saving lives.

Sure, maybe in the beginning she needed school, for her ABC's 123's, history, all of those were important because she didn't know, but now she knew all of the important things, but how was reading about the life process of a tree going to help her save lives in a metal box in the sky? She didn't need to know about photosynthesis when she was trying to stop someone from dying of a common cold when they had no medicine. 

  


She needed to spend more time in the clinic and less time in this class.

  


“ _Miss Griffin_.” Clarke's head snapped up, mouth drawing into a thin line, “pay attention or-.” Clarke stood up abruptly, slamming her hands down on her desk, blue eyes narrowing defiantly. The class fell into a hushed silence and Clarke could already feel her cheeks burning.

  


Maybe, if she'd been sleeping well and not having weird dreams of the ground that were giving her terrible dizzy spells, maybe if she hadn't been up all night listening to Gladys and John out complain each other, maybe if Thomas hadn't been hovering so close he was practically on her, Clarke might have sat in her chair silently. But that wasn't the case, and with a final “fine” she marched out of the class, tablet in her hand.

  


Her first thought was to go home and hope she could get some sleep, but Clarke knew that was bound to lead her right into her mother, who would undoubtedly turn her right around and march her back into class-that was so not happening. Her second was to go hide out in her father's office, he wouldn't force her back to school even if he was there, but she highly doubted he would be because of some tests that needed to be run today on the Ark, he'd most likely be supervising the mechanics. 

  


To say she was surprised when she stepped into his office and found him in the middle of a very hushed meeting with her mother would have been an understatement. She quickly ducked out as fast as she tried to walk in, sinking down low by the door and preparing to get scolded, a few heart beats later when the scolding didn't come she breathed a sigh of relief. Slowly she leaned closer, pressing an ear to the door.

  


“-glitch. This is a system failure. The people need to know.” Jake was saying. System failure? The Ark was failing? Clarke pressed close to the door, glancing down the hallway to make sure nobody was coming that would rat her out.

  


“No. They'll panic.” Abby shuts him down flatly. 

  


“You sound like Kane.” Jake sighed. 

  


“Because he's right.” Abby argued, “I-sorry there's an emergency in medical.” Clarke's eyes bugged out of her head as she scrambled down the hallway, in a hurry to get to the other end and hide behind a trash can. She made it just in time, back pressed against the wall, chest heaving, as her mothers footfalls retreated across the Ark.

  


Clarke sat there until she was sure her father wasn't going to come out of the office, too, before she slowly got up and made her way over to the look out in section one where she knew there was little chance anyone running across her. She found a chair to tuck into that looked out of the wide expanse of the Earth they were floating around. She could see North America from here.   

  


She remembered reading about North America, she could name the fifty states, albeit slowly. She knew  that Florida was hot, Michigan was cold, and Virginia where they dropped the original ship was somewhere in between. She kept repeating pointless facts over and over until her mind was overrun with useless information she didn't need to know. Anything to distract her from the snippets of conversation she'd heard.

  


System failure.

  


That meant the Ark was dying, for real this time. She looked back out the observation deck, the earth a shiny blue orb, their only choice left. Her heart hammered in her throat. Raven talked about the old plans some nights when they'd sit up late in her quarters and talk about the inevitable failure of the Ark. They only had two more dropships, they could hold barely a hundred people, at most, depending on weight. Maybe a parent and child doubled up.

  


They didn't have enough room for the population of the Ark. They didn't know if Earth was safe. They didn't have oxygen. Clarke's heart was beating like a hummingbirds wings in her chest, her throat tightening to the point that she could barely breath. _Breathe, Clarke, breathe._ She told herself, squeezing her eyes shut. 

  


She was sitting in a forest, a cup in her large hands and a man with huge biceps and a lot of black tattoos sitting beside her. He was saying something but she couldn't quite understand it. He was calming, and the cup was filled with something that made her feel less queasy. Or well-that version of her. 

  


The man got up and shuffled away, sitting down next to a woman with brown hair, a lot of braids, and black smudges around her eyes. Clarke was terrified of her and her eyes snapped open. She was back on the Ark, breathing normally. Her tablet was on the ground, shut off, and her father was standing off to the side, staring down at the Earth with his hands buried in his pockets.

  


“You're skipping class.” he observed, smirking at her in his reflection, “what's the occasion?”

  


Clarke studies him for a few seconds, she's trying to figure out if he knows she knows, she reasons that her father is trying to figure out if she does. Clarke is predictable. If she leaves some place she's supposed to be its always to go find him, “Miss Martin decided that since I'm a _Griffin_ I should be paying better attention in class than I am, regardless of my clinic hours.” Clarke rolls her eyes dramatically, “as if listening to her drone on and on about photosynthesis is so _thrilling_.”

  


“You shouldn't skip.” Jake reprimanded, there was no actual threat to his words. She knew his opinion on school. It was much in line with hers.

  


“It's not skipping if you go to class and then walk out.” Clarke retorted, Jake rolled his eyes, “can I come hide in your office? Mom will flip if she finds out.”

  


“Sure, come on kiddo.” Clarke slipped out of her chair, scooping up her tablet and following her father back to his office silently. She dropped down into her usual spot, on the floor in the corner out of the way, and watched her father work.

  


Her thoughts drifted idly, never landing on any one thing in particular, until what John said to her in the clinic rang through her ears, “hey dad? If we ever do go to the ground, do you think the Ark will leave the delinquents?”

  


Her father stiffened, and Clarke bit her lip nervously. Had she given too much away? Even if she had, he wouldn't give anything away, right? 

  


“I would hope not.” Jake answered after a moments consideration, “after all they're only in lock up because its what we have to do to survive. It would be inhumane of us to leave them up here to starve to death.” Clarke nodded, happy that _someone_ agreed with her, and opened up one of the medical texts that her mother wanted her to read. 

  


_This_ was interesting, _this_ was relevant.

  


\- 

  


That night at dinner was tense. 

  


Abby had left early to enjoy their weekly dinner with the Jaha's, but Jaha, her mother and her father were oddly silent, their words clipped and their conversation cold, even if Clarke hadn't heard the conversation she'd know something was up. 

  


Wells seemed to feel the awkward silence and talked idly about school, apparently they'd actually had some interesting lesson after Clarke stormed out. Unfortunanlty Wells' mouth got ahead of his brain and he started to tell them about Clarke walking out and shut his mouth, looking sheepishly down at his plate.

  


“Clarke?” Her mother demanded hotly, glancing between her and her father. Jake stared down at his plate and her mother turned back to Clarke. 

  


Clarke gave Wells a withering glare before turning to her mother, “I'm training to become a doctor, what do I need to know about a plants life cycle for?” 

  


Her mother was ready to argue, mouth open to spill a string of punishments when Jaha cleared his throat. Abby's mouth snapped shut and everyone turned toward the Chancellor,  “I think you're right, Clarke. There is no point for you to remain in school. If you'd like you may begin to work the B shift, effective immediately.” that meant from 8 at night until 8 in the morning Clarke would be working in the clinic. For real.

  


“Are you serious?” Clarke asked, her heart thumping madly in her chest.

  


“Yes.” if Clarke could have she would have jumped up and down with joy, “so get home and get changed, you have ten minutes to get to work.” Clarke hastily scrambled away from the table, racing off toward her room to get changed into her scrubs and grab her tablet.

  


The clinic was a little bit busier in the late evening, all of the workers coming off shift with asthma, pained backs, cramped hands, and a select handful came through symptoms that made Clarke's stomach twist. The early stages of oxygen deprivation, she tried to shake it off, focusing on helping them in whatever way she could. 

  


She had a steady stream of people buzz through during her first two hours and Jackson was there, overseeing her in case it was something more than she could handle, but for the most part she was on her own. It was freeing, being able to see patients and help them, and learn how to be a better doctor. It was more than Clarke could have hoped for when she walked out of class that morning.

  


A few patients lasted longer than needed, friends of John or of John's parents. Clarke took the liberty of stretching out figuring out what to do to help their aliments, asking Jackson for his opinion on it, and in return got grateful smiles.  By the time the crowd ebbed she was feeling rough on her feet, but happy.

  


She slumped down in her little chair, pulled out her tablet and started reading her medical text. John was asleep now, his stitches had ripped open earlier- the helpful emergency in medical that whisked Abby away- and Abby had to restitch him so Jackson gave him something to help him sleep. Luckily now Gladys was gone, so it was just her, John and the guard.

  


She had almost finished the text by the next morning, making a few notes in the pages to ask either Jackson or her mother for advice on. By the time eight am rolled around she was ready to crawl into her bed. Her mother arrived at 8 on the dot, in her scrubs with her tablet in hand, “I left breakfast on the counter.” she commented as she logged into the system. Clarke nodded, logging out and shuffling back to her apartment.

  


The rush of freedom she felt, watching her classmates heading off to class while she just grinned and kept on toward her apartment, was like a breath of fresh air. Or at least what she'd imagined it would feel like. Smiling to herself she ate her breakfast, a small protein pack and some water, before heading into her room and changing from her scrubs into her sleep clothes. 

  


Finally comfortable she grabbed her pad of paper and the charcoal her father had managed to scavenge up for her over the years. It wasn't used up on the Ark, but bits and pieces still floated around the Exchange. She started sketching absently, not really thinking of the way her fingers moved the piece of charcoal across the paper until she was looking at a very unfamiliar face.

  


Soft edges with wide eyes and braids in her long brown hair. From what she witnessed watching her friends growing up she could only imagine who this girl was, the one from her dreams of the ground. Octavia Blake, with her long brown hair and her pretty red ribbon. The first to die. But here she was, clearly grown up, just about Clarke's age, in her dreams of the ground.

  


Except, in some part of her brain, Clarke knew they were much more than dreams. When she was little she was _on_ that drop ship, watching Octavia Blake stare up at her mother, worried, with wide trusting blue eyes. Clarke had been in that drop ship, staring at Octavia and her mother, asking about Octavia. But she didn't know how, she just knew it had been real.

  


This time it was almost like she knew it was coming. She scribbled a name across the top of the page with a question mark beside it. _Octavia?_ And she watched as the paper suddenly became the inside of a tent, a table with a clay pot across from her. Whatever she was laying on was lump, and the ground was made of dirt, but that wasn't what mattered, what mattered was the gravelly voice that answered her question.

  


**That looks just like her. the** unfamiliar voice rang out in her head. She almost dropped her charcoal, almost. 

  


“Holy shit.” she whispered, searching the tent for clues. 

  


**Yeah, holy shit.** The voice echoed, **how did you know who she was?**

  


“I-she was-on the Ark. She was the first to die-or so we thought anyways. How is she alive?” Clarke asked, tripping over her words in her excitement. The people on the ground _survived,_ “how are you alive? _Where_ are you?”

  


**I'm on the ground. In the Woods Clans camp. You thought Octavia was dead?** He seemed genuinely confused. As if the thought of them being dead was so far fetched. 

  


“Well her wrist band went out, communication cut out, we all thought you died, we had no clue what happened.” Clarke explained, her eyes focusing on the blurry shape of her door. The faint sound of the front door sliding open caught her attention, “shit.” and just like that the ground disappeared.

  


She watched her dad shuffle through the door and straight into the bedroom he shared with her mom. He looked exhausted, but he was in and out in a matter of minutes, heading right back to work. Clarke sighed, putting away her paper and charcoal, sinking back into her bed to try and get some sleep.

  


She had a weird dream, this one very much a dream. She was watching herself on the ground, laughing as she raced through the forest, the wind blowing through her hair as the trees waved around her. Ahead of her Wells was climbing a tree with Raven already up in the branches. Her mother was walking with her father, everything was light and happy. 

  


When Clarke woke up she had a few hours before she had to be at work. She shuffled into her bathroom and took her quick shower, dropping down onto her stiff bed. She glanced out the small porthole, down to Earth, and sighed. 

  


**You're wet. Sort of.** Clarke almost tumbled off her bed.

  


“Keen powers of observation you have.” she joked, standing up and walking over to where her clothes were. She shimmied into her jeans and hooked on her bra, “oh my god can you see me?” she realized belatedly.

  


**If you look down, maybe. No mirrors up on the ark, Princess?** The voice teased.

  


“Its not like I'm an expert on this or anything.” Clarke retorted, shrugging her shirt on. She vaguely wondered why she was so casual about having this man in her head, and why he was so casual about being there. She stopped moving, focusing on him and glanced around, “so is this your tent?”

  


**No, I'm still in the grounders camp. They think I'm ill and don't want me falling dead while traveling with our supplies. Something about the Sky people blaming them.** He answered, picking up a pouch and taking a swig of water.

  


“What are grounders?” she asked, trying to focus on where her bed was so she could sit down.

  


**The people who were born on the Earth. We weren't alone when they dropped us down here.** Clarke's mind raced over the people she'd seen the man with in the past few days.

  


“So the big guy? With he tattoos? And the girl with the face paint?” Clarke asked, grabbing for her paper and one of her pencils.

  


**Lincoln and Anya, yes.** He spit Lincoln's name like it was dirt, **aren't you supposed to still be in class?**

  


“Have you been looking in on me?” Clarke asked, “I don't even know your name so that's completely creepy.” Clarke joked, unable to fight the grin that split across her face.

  


He chuckled, a sound that reverberated through her brain and made her stomach twist, she tried to ignore that part, **my name is Bellamy.**

  


“Bellamy Blake?” Clarke gasped, “You're Octavia's brother! You woke up!”

  


**Every day, Princess.** He chuckled.

  


“Clarke. My name is Clarke.” she whispered, her brain whirling, “the dropship. You hit your head. I was out for a week, when I woke up my best friend told me they'd sent a dropship to the ground. The shock of the drop had made me fall and I hit my head, but they were alive on the ground. The only one hurt was Bellamy Blake. He'd been unconscious. We never found out if you woke up when communication broke off.” 

  


**I was in an out for about three weeks. Woke up right before the grounders attacked.** Bellamy stood up, walking across the small tent he was in and picking something up. It was red and round and Clarke's mouth watered at the sight.

  


“Is that an apple?” Clarke asked. They had them, from time to time up on the Ark, but she had a feeling the synthetic ones they were able to grow had nothing on real apples. Bellamy chuckled, taking a bite out of it, “Is it weird that we're just _talking_ to each other?” 

  


**Maybe a little. But it beats talking to yourself.** Bellamy answered, taking another bite off his apple, **so if no class?**

  


“I'm training to be a doctor.” Clarke answered, “Jaha granted me leniency from class. Do you guys have school?” 

  


**Not formal school like back on the Ark, but we have a school and once a month Ark teachers come here and teach us and our teachers go to their camps and teach them.** Bellamy shrugged on a leather jacket.

  


“Is it cold?” Clarke asked eagerly.

  


**Winter is just about over. Everything is melting, but its still a bit chilly in the morning.** He answered, **off to work, Princess.**

  


Clarke smirked, feeling the connection fading. It left her feeling more than a little empty, but it was almost time for her shift to start. Clarke changed into her scrubs, heading into the living room with her tablet. She wasn't expecting her father to be home, and she certainly didn't expect her mother to be, too.

  


“This isn't some game, Jake! There would be riots.”

  


“The people have a right to know, we can't keep this a secret.” Jake insisted, “The Ark is dying, everyone deserves to know.”

  


Clarke slunk back against the wall out of sight, “Jake, they'll float you.” Clarke's heart stopped in her chest. He couldn't be considering going public.

  


“It's whats right, Abby.” Clarke heard the tell tale signs of her mother on the move and raced to duck back into her room. She was still close enough to hear her mothers parting words though.

  


“Think about Clarke.” 

  


“I am.” Jake promised her.

  


Clarke raced out of the room as fast as her legs would carry her. 

  


She found Raven where she expected, holed up in her room for the night. It was only 7, but mechanics worked 12 hour shifts, with an hour difference from the medics. Raven was squashed into her tiny chair with a ratty yellow blanket draped across her legs and her tablet on her table in front of her. Clarke took in the blue prints for a dropship, the look on Raven's face, and dropped down into one of Raven's two kitchen chairs.

  


“This is real.” Clarke muttered.

  


“This is real.” Raven agreed, “Your father keeps talking about going public.”

  


Clarke nodded, “I heard him, arguing with my mom. She said they'd float him.”

  


“They will. They'll float us both.” Raven agreed solemnly. Clarke's heart sank in her stomach, “how could they float their best engineer and their best mechanic? That'd be insane-all for telling people what they have a right to know! Beside you're barely 17, they _can't_ float you.”

  


Raven looked over at Clarke, shaking her head sadly, “that's two less people wasting oxygen.” Raven looked down at the schematics, “the zero g mechanics are trying to come up with a temporary fix, so they sent us all home with these.”

  


“A bunch of people from factory station came into the clinic last night after their shifts, a lot of them had the early signs of oxygen deprivation.”

  


“Those should start to fade. We got the major problem managed, but there's no long term fix. We'll be fine, for maybe a year, maybe two if we're lucky.” Raven sighed, shaking her head, she pulled her legs up tighter in the chair. Clarke sat in silence on the floor, staring blankly at the wall, “So Jaha made you the youngest doctor in hundreds of years, huh?”

  


“Yeah.” Clarke whispered, “he did.”

  


“Come on. Let's get you to medical. I need a cut cleaned up on my arm.” Raven announced, standing up and shutting off her tablet. Clarke nodded, standing up and shuffling off in front of Raven toward medical.

  


“Do you ever think about going to the ground, Rae?” 

  


“All the time.” Raven said, thumbing the necklace around her neck. Her best friend Finn Collins had made it for her the day before the dropship launched. His family had won the raffle, her mother hadn't. He had, in all of his five year old skills, managed to scrounge up a chain and a bird charm. It wasn't a Raven, but it was as close as he could get. 

  


“I'm having those flashes again.” Clarke explained, “I know this will sound crazy, but I think...I talked to Bellamy Blake.”

  


Raven stopped dead in her tracks, “Bellamy Blake? As in _Octavia_ 's older brother?” Raven asked, searching Clarke's face for any sign she was lying, “everyone on the ground is dead.”

  


Clarke looked down at the floor, “But Raven, what if they're not? What if the wrist bands just went out? Or someone made them take them off? Raven, I talked to them. I _saw_ Octavia. Raven, what if Earth is survivable?”

  


“Clarke, its radiation soaked, nobody could survive.”

  


“What if there are people that never left the ground?” Clarke asked. Raven stopped walking, dragging Clarke down a deserted hall.

  


“You're serious?” Clarke nodded, “shit, Clarke, this changes _everything._ Bellamy Blake is alive. Octavia Blake is alive-Finn?”

  


“I can ask.” Clarke confirmed, “It doesn't really-I can't control it, but next time I will. He's traveling with grounders-people born on the ground. There's an alliance.” they could hear footfalls and conversation, Clarke snapped her mouth shut and they slipped back into the main hall.

Abby was seeing to John's stitches when Clarke and Raven walked into the clinic, “go sit on that bed.” Clarke instructed, logging into the clinic. She grabbed some disinfectant and bandages from the supply cabinet. When she turned around Raven had shrugged off her jacket to reveal a nasty cut down her arm, “What the hell Raven!” Clarke gasped.

  


Abby looked up from John's stitches and started toward Raven, “I can handle this Clarke-.”

  


“I got it, Dr. Griffin.” Clarke interrupted, setting the supplies down beside Raven. She cleaned it up silently. It was a deep gash, but seemed relatively clean. She was able to get away with only nine stitches and a bandage. 

  


Jackson made sure her mother left at the end of her shift and came over to assist with the stitches, “You did a good job, Clarke. They're almost perfect.” Clarke beamed, Raven clapped her on the shoulder, shrugging on her jacket.

  


“I'm gonna get to bed.” she glanced at Murphy, “you look like shit.” he raised a finger at her with eyes at half mast. She chuckled and continued her path out. Clarke went to disinfect her hands, putting away the supplies she didn't use on Raven and getting ready for the onslaught of the factory station. She watched silently as two of the guards escorted John back to the Sky Box.

  


“Seeya, Doc.”

  


“See you, Murphy.” he grinned at her, pleased that she'd finally called him the name he preferred. She turned to her patient once he was gone, her mind a planet away. They were going to get back to Earth, one way or another. 


	5. Chapter 5

_Bellamy_

  


Bellamy wasn't sure why he needed to be in TonDC, they were having a celebration of sorts, placement of new warriors and it was customary that leaders from different clans come to participate, but why he needed to go and not his mother didn't make any sense.

  


Bellamy did not want to be a leader, he didn't think he was cut out for it. He knew his mother was, and Octavia could be, but Bellamy? He wasn't a leader. He was a solider, a follower, someone who could get the job done, but not the person who could decide that the job needed to be done. But he'd been picked by Lexa to represent the Sky people and his mother was more than pleased to go ahead and let him go.

  


Aurora didn't leave the Sky camp much, not after the Diana Sydney incident. Bellamy flinched at the thought of it. It may have been three years ago, but he would never forget it. Diana Sydney was a stain on the Sky peoples stint on the ground.

  


His tent flap billowed open and Octavia rushed in, a flurry of energy, “Bell! Come on! You're supposed to be a representative.” she grabbed his arm and hauling him off toward the center of the grounder village. Bellamy rolled his eyes, taking in the circle before him. Part of this celebration involved showing off current warriors fighting skills and at night, the trainees would fight for their place among the warriors.

  


It wouldn't be long before Octavia was participating in this herself, training as a new member of the Woods Clan, as Lincoln's wife. A month and a half had passed since Aurora Blake had promised Octavia and Lincoln could marry, and in two short weeks they would be, and Octavia would move to TonDC permanently, and train under Indra to become a warrior for the Trikru.

  


Bellamy was losing his mind.

  


His baby sister was getting married and moving away from home, something on the Ark he never thought would happen, and even here on the ground it never occurred to him. He'd practically raised Octavia while his mother fought to get them a better life than what they were born into on the Ark.

  


Octavia had the perfect love, and there was no way Bellamy could deny that Lincoln loved her, no matter how hard he wanted to keep his sister at home, where he could protect her, watch over her.

Octavia didn't _need_ protecting and Bellamy knew that, too, but he'd spent his entire life protecting her and it was hard to let go.

  


Even now, watching her sitting up in the front row with Lincoln watching the sparring with an eager look on her face, Lexa smiling over at them with a cold approval. The way her dark eyes watched them was like the panthers in the woods watching its prey. Predatory and evil, like she was ready to pounce on them and tear them to shreds if they didn't do what she wanted 

  


That's why Lexa was such a good leader, the cold detached air she always had about her made her look unbreakable. Bellamy knew that wasn't the case, he'd met Costia before Lexa rose to power. A girl made of everything good in the world, a girl not hardened by life on the ground. She was free, and light, and reminded Bellamy so much of Octavia that he'd felt such sympathy for Lexa when she was killed.

  


Bellamy knew Lexa's weakness, everyone had. But someone had taken that away, and he wasn't sure that anyone would ever become her weakness again. She was hard, and ruthless, and everything the grounders needed in a leader. Unforgiving, unbending, the Sky People were lucky they'd gained a truce with her, one that hinged on the rest of the Sky people listening if they crashed down. One that hinged on those on the ground going up against those in the sky if it came to that.

  


“ **You're staring awfully hard at that girl, trying to make a move?”** Clarke's voice rang through his head, startling him out of his thoughts. She was laughing, and it was the most mesmerizing sound Bellamy had ever heard, he tried not to think about what that feeling meant. He cleared his throat and moved away from the crowd, away from the fight.

  


“Definitely not, Princess.” he chuckled, “that is the grounders Heda. She's basically their chancellor.”

  


“ **She's a kid.”** Clarke balked. She shook her head and blonde tendrils fell in front of her face. It occurred to Bellamy that he didn't even know that she was blonde before now. He had absolutely no idea what Clarke looked like.

  


Bellamy looked around her surroundings, hoping for a mirror, but no such luck. He noted, however, that she was in a small room on the Ark, not too unlike his old housing. She was down on what looked like Mecha station, judging from the one tiny window looking out to Earth. It housing just a little bit better than what Bellamy had on Factory. She was picking at something on her scrubs. 

  


“She's young, yes. But not a kid.” Bellamy agreed, “where are you?”

  


“ **Raven's quarters. She's due off shift in an hour and she usually walks with me to the clinic.”** Something was off in her voice, it hitched a little which made Bellamy was almost sure she was lying, but it wasn't his business what she was doing up there, **“is Finn still doing okay?”** she asked abruptly, like she did often for Raven's sake. 

  


“Yeah, nature boy is just fine. Teaching on the little kids how to pick and replant flowers around their homes, he's thinking about starting an Earth skills class.” Bellamy chuckled, eyes going toward the ring where a kid from Polis was grappling with a kid from TonDC. It was almost an evenly matched fight. Almost. 

  


“ **What are they doing?”** she asked, taking a sip of water from a warm glass in her hands.

  


“Fighting.” Bellamy answered, not sure what she was expecting his answer to be. Clearly that answer didn't please her because she snorted, rolling her eyes, “showing off skill, trying to get picked for spots as a warrior down here. Octavia will be doing that soon.” 

  


“ **Stop worrying about her Bellamy, she's a big girl**.” Clarke sighed they'd had this fight more than five times already, “ **besides** , **from what I've seen she's already got a mean left hook and is decent with a bow.”**

  


“You're in my head, you're supposed to be on my side, Princess.” Bellamy chuckled.

  


“ **Not a chance, Rebel.”** Clarke laughed, he could almost hear her grin. He scowled, not that she could see it, and leaned up against a tree so it wouldn't be so obvious that he was trying to hide the fact that he was talking to himself, “ **Bell?”** Clarke whispered after a long silence.

  


“Yes?”

  


“ **Are you going to be in TonDC all night, or are you going back to your camp?”** she reached over and picked up her tablet, scrolling through peoples medical charts on her tablet. She had the information on every one of the members of the Ark at her fingertips. 

  


“I'll be staying here for the night, traveling in the dark isn't allowed. Octavia, Lincoln and I head back at first light, why?” he asked, glancing around to make sure nobody could see him. He didn't think the grounders would find it too weird, given what Lincoln kept telling him about soulmates, but he wouldn't let himself believe in that fantasy. He wouldn't let himself believe that his soul mate was trapped in the sky.

  


“ **I get off my shift in twelve hours. That's right after sunup, right?”** Bellamy nodded his head, “ **Good. I need to talk to you.”**

  


“You sound serious, is everything okay?” his eyebrows drew together tightly, his stomach clenching. Those words made a dread settle on his chest that he hadn't felt since the day he watched a kid take a grounders spear through the chest. 

  


“ **I just...need someone to talk to”** Clarke answered vaguely, “ **I've got to get to the clinic.”**

  


Bellamy nodded, feeling Clarke cut him off on her end without another word. He tried not to be agitated by it, after all she did really have to work, but he knew she still had easily another hour, because the sun had yet to set for him and Raven still hadn't arrived in her apartment, and she got off an hour before Clarke's shift started. But it definitely didn't bother him.

  


“Bellamy.” Lexa's voice cut through the silence around him, he glanced over at her. She strolled up to him casually, her seconds staying a few feet away with their backs to them. She claps her hands over her sword hilt, eyes shifting over him from behind her war paint, “you had warrior training, correct?”

  


“Very little.” he replied vaguely, when she made a face he continued, “I was trained in the Sky camp, by one of your warriors when I was young. The guard in our camp isn't really required to have physical combat skills.” he knew he was rambling but he didn't really care. He wanted to hopefully bore Lexa into walking away from him, her intense stare was practically boring a hole right through his head.

  


Lexa tilted her head cold eyes studying him, “you would make a good warrior, a great help against the maunon, for both us and your people.”

  


Bellamy studied her back. She knew his feelings about the the so called mountain men, knew that he wouldn't see that as a reason to take any members of the guard from his camp. He knew grounders went missing, but there were a million explanations for grounders disappearing, whether or not Lexa wanted to see reason.

  


“It could be, but there are many other sky people who would make better warriors than I could. Octavia is going to train when she marries Lincoln, is she not?” he hates how formal he has to sound around her, as if he's dancing across a minefield. 

  


“She will, but when she marries Lincoln she will become part of the Trikru, your Sky people are not prepared to be at war, and war is coming.” Lexa told him bluntly, “we are allies, it would be unfair of us not to train you, or we would be asking you to walk into your own slaughter when the mountain men come.”

  


Bellamy raised an eyebrow slowly, “you want to train us?”

  


“Yes. Our warriors start much younger, but as I've explained before to both Diana, before her untimely death, and Aurora afterwards you are free to set your age. You should bring them with you on your next trip.” Lexa informed him. Bellamy frowned at her, she knew most of their population was older, too old to learn to fight, and they had yet to have one successful pregnancy. 

  


He could give the entire list to her right now, and she probably knew who to expect. He knew she had an exact list of who she wanted, she knew who was the right age, she just wanted him to make the choice. Miller, Atom, Fox, Monroe, Roma and himself. 

  


Maybe Finn, but he was too peaceful to go to war, Bellamy couldn't see him becoming a warrior. True, he always wanted to prove himself, but he was still too much of a kid. There were others his age, like Mbege, Trina and Pascal, but they wouldn't be interested in learning to go to war, Bellamy was starting to see that it wouldn't be a choice anymore.

  


“I'll let our commander know, and I'll be back with who we have.” Bellamy promised.

  


“Good. Now lets go have a drink and watch the real matches.” there is no arguing with her command, even if it is matched with what he thinks is supposed to be her _winning_ smile, it was more like she was baring her teeth in challenge. He nodded and followed her and her guard to the front row, stuck between Lexa and Anya with a glass of something way too strong for him to be drinking around them.

  


-

  


It was getting dark, the air was cooler and smelled sweet. Torches were lit to illuminating the fighting pit, weapons were laid out for the warriors to pick from. Kids lined the area, eager to get their chance to prove their worth. Bellamy's stomach knotted, he could never see his people up there, getting ready to fight. They hadn't known war since Diana was killed. They would never be ready for this. 

  


The first fight was between a sort of scrawny kid from TonDC going against a human meat wall by the name of Tristan. Bellamy was not impressed, to say the least, watching a kid get beat on by a man who'd killed dozens, judging by the cluster of scars over his heart that counted off how many he'd killed, but the kid did impressive for a beginner. Managed to take the meat wall to one knee, and he was declared fit to be a warrior. 

  


The fights ended near the middle of the night, when the moon was full and hanging high in the sky. Lexa was the first to leave, and nobody was to move until she and her crew were safely back in her tent. Bellamy was feeling like he'd been dragging ten pound sacks of sand around all day. He crumbled into his tent, burying himself in the furs that made up the bed, and closed his eyes. When he opened them again he was on the Ark. 

  


Jake Griffin was standing in front of him. Jake Griffin who helped him on the dropship and got him buckled in and found Octavia so she was sitting with her family, “ _ **Clarke, are you telling me there are people on the ground, alive? Our people.**_ ”

  


“ **Our people, and people who were born on the ground. Bellamy calls them grounders.”** Clarke explained patiently.

  


Jake's face scrunched in thought, _**“Bellamy? As in Bellamy Blake?”**_

  


“ **Yes. He's on the ground, and I can see the ground through his eyes, dad they're alive. Our people are alive. Dad, we can go to the ground.”** Jake inhaled sharply, looking at Clarke with a mix of hesitation and a awe. 

  


“Clarke...whats going on?” Bellamy whispered. Clarke closed her eyes slowly, tipping her head down. 

  


**Bellamy.** Clarke inhaled sharply, tipping her head back, **later, please.**

  


“Okay.” Bellamy sighed, feeling the connection fade, instead of abruptly snapping shut against his head. He opened his eyes and lit a candle, shifting into a sitting position against the furs. He reached over and pulled his book from within his pack. If Clarke didn't want him poking around that meant he couldn't go to sleep, it was almost as if neither of them could control the connection if the other was asleep. 

  


Instead, he read stories of the gods from a book he'd found in a dilapidated house on a scouting mission when he was a teenager. It was heavy and a hassle to keep track of, but worth it in his opinion. He knew the stories, his mother had told him growing up, and he'd told Octavia, they were fascinating stories, and now he had all of them, and more, at his finger tips.

  


“Bell.” Octavia's head peered around the tent flap wide eyes searching around the tent for anyone besides her brother, “I saw the light from my tent. Are you reading?”

  


“No, I'm staring at the pages.” Bellamy told her dryly, “can't sleep?”

  


Octavia shook her head, “Lexa wants you and the rest of our people to train to become warriors. She never wanted that before.” Octavia told him, stepping fully into the tent and plopping down at the foot of his makeshift bed of furs, “what is going on?”

  


Bellamy closed his book, setting it aside, “Octavia, you know as well as I do that she's been waiting to do this since we first struck up the alliance. Once you and Lincoln marry we are hers.” Bellamy whispered, “she's going to make sure we _need_ her. It's been her plan all along.”

  


“Did I screw everything up?” Octavia asked, shrinking into herself at the foot of his bed. Bellamy wasn't sure what to do. It'd been so long since he'd seen Octavia look this nervous. She was a confident, independent fiery person, she never seemed to be scared, except now, when she thought she'd ruined something.

  


“Of course not, O. You're in love, none of this is your fault.” Bellamy assured her. She nodded, closing her eyes.

  


“Read me a story, Bell?” Bellamy picked up his book from the floor and opened it back up to where he'd been reading from, clearing his throat before picking up where he'd left off. The story of Demeter and Persephone.

  


“Demeter loved her little daughter, Persephone. They played together in the fields almost every day. As Persephone smiled up at her mother, Demeter's heart swelled with happiness, and the crops grew high and healthy. Flowers tumbled everywhere. As time passed, Persephone grew into a lovely goddess. That's when the trouble started...” 

  


Bellamy felt the connection reopening as he read, but Clarke remained silent, “Hades, the king of the underworld, was a gloomy fellow. He normally hung out in the Underworld. One day, Hades felt restless. He decided to take his three-headed dog out for a chariot ride. Cerberus, his dog, usually stood guard at the gate to Underworld. But Hades gave his pup a break now and then. He scooped up Cerberus, and left a couple of spirits in charge instead.”

  


He could see Clarke now, she was back in Raven's quarters, curled up in a tiny chair, listening contently, **“keep going.”** she murmured, so he did. If Octavia noticed his pause, she didn't say something, an after two stories she happily slipped back away to her tent.

  


“What's going on up there, Clarke?”

  


He could hear her swallow nervously, “ **the Ark is dying. My father wants to go public. Raven wants the council to know about the ground. They both think I'm insane. That I'm making you up, I thought maybe he'd believe me. I know I'm not. I know we can come home.”**

  


“Make them, believe you.” Bellamy told her, his heart beating irrationally fast at the thought of her coming to the ground. To him. Maybe Lincoln wasn't all wrong about the soulmates thing, maybe this was just the way to bring them together. If, that is, she could find a way to the ground.

  


“ **I've tried. I just-how the hell could I** ** _not_ be craz-Raven, finally!” ** Clarke gasped.

  


He watched as someone passed in front of her, a girl with ponytail of dark hair, covered in grease and wearing a red jacket, “I used to know her.” Bellamy told Clarke, “I met her at the trade, her mother gave me ration points for a bottle of shine, Raven told me she hadn't eaten in five days, so I got her an apple.” 

  


“ **That sounds just like her mother.”** Clarke spat the word like it burned her tongue, Bellamy could see Raven giving her a look, “ **Bellamy said he met you once, in the trade. Your mother gave him rations for a bottle of shine. He got you an apple.”**

  


Raven was silent, staring at Clarke like she'd suddenly sprouted three heads, and then, “ ** _shit_ , _you weren't lying._** ” Bellamy smiled triumphantly, “ ** _how the fuck are we going to get them to believe you?”_**

  


“ **I'll figure something out.”** Clarke said, determined, “ **I'm not going to die up here. Bellamy, you have to travel soon, go to sleep.** ”

  


“Be careful up there, Princess.” she chuckled, shaking her head, but didn't cut him off. Instead she whispered with Raven and he slowly drifted off to sleep, the sound of her voice lulling him into a peaceful sleep.

  


He wasn't sure how much of his dreams were really dreams, or if they were Clarke's life. There was a table full of people, none of them looked happy.  He recognized Jaha, and what appeared to be his son, and Abby, the one who'd clapped on his bracelet that fateful day on the Ark. More people he didn't recognize. They were fighting about something, she couldn't tell what about, but it wasn't pretty. There was a fight, Raven and Jake were clapped in handcuffs, and if his position looking at them told him anything, Clarke had been too.

  


When he woke up, he couldn't feel her, he could only vaguely remember the dream, but he was sure of it. Clarke was in lockup. Raven and her father had been arrested. He woke up slowly, dragged himself to breakfast, and started the long trek home with Octavia and Lincoln. 

  


“You're awfully quiet today, big brother. Late night with your lady friend?” Octavia teased. 

  


“Traitor.” Bellamy accused, glaring at Lincoln half heartedly, “Clarke told me the Ark was dying. This time it's not just a glitch.”

  


Octavia looked at him wide eyed, “they're coming down?”

  


“They don't know we're alive. Clarke is trying to tell them, trying to get them to give the idea some thought, but so far her dad and her friend don't believe her, so she's out of options. I don't know, she wanted to talk to me today, but I had a weird dream and I think she was arrested.” 

  


Octavia went silent, marched ahead, and Lincoln rushed after her. The rest of the trip was to be made in silence, apparently.  They were half way back to the camp when it happened. Suddenly he was in Clarke's head, so fast he got whiplash and crashed to his knees. Jake was standing before them, in front of the airlock, Raven gripping her hand so tight it might break, and Abby on her left, crying.

  


“ ** _It'll be okay, sweetheart.”_** Jake was telling her, his eyes soft, almost begging her to believe his lie.

  


“ **You're lying.”** Clarke sobbed, “ **Chancellor, please. You can't do this! He's your best engineer, please!”**

  


“ ** _Clarke, this is what has to be done. He disobeyed me and told-.”_** Jaha started to say, trying his best to seem stern.

  


“ **He didn't tell me! I overheard him and my mom arguing the day I walked out of class, please. You can't.”** Clarke begged, clearly straining to keep her voice level.

  


“ _ **Clarke, please honey...”**_ Abby started to beg, reaching a hand out toward her daughter. Clarke shrunk away from her into Raven who wrapped her arms around her securely. Abby flinched.

  


“ **This is your fault! If you would just listen! We told the people once, and they were fine, what is so wrong about doing it again? We** ** _know_ the ground is survivable!” ** Clarke yelled, Bellamy could feel the tears tracking down her face. He could see Lincoln's boots in front of him, trying to help him to his feet. 

  


“ _ **We know that's what you think Clarke, but the ground-.”**_ Jaha started.

  


“ _ **Bellamy Blake is alive! We know it, but if you don't want to believe us fine! It's been 11 years, maybe we need to send someone else to the ground and try it again! What do we have to lose?”**_ Raven yelled, it rang against Bellamy's ears harshly. 

  


“ _ **This is not up for discussion. Nobody wants to go-.”**_ Jaha started to argue.

  


“ **Send me.”**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm really loving all of the feedback I'm getting, thank you so much! I really hope you guys are enjoying this story. I'm trying my best to figure out writing both Bellamy and Clarke's characters, as they're very new to me so I hope I'm doing them justice. Thanks for reading!


	6. Chapter 6

“Send me.” Clarke demanded, staring Jaha down defiantly, and taking a step toward him. She didn't mean for it to be threatening, but apparently it was. Everything went into chaos then. Her father started protesting, her mother did too, guards swept in to calm them down and Clarke ended up in cuffs on the floor while Kane and Shumway loaded her father into the airlock, kicking and screaming. 

  


Abby was being held back by Jaha, two guards had Raven, and one was holding Clarke bodily to the ground. She locked eyes with her father, tears brimming, as Shumway hit the button and her father was floated before her eyes, sucked out of the air lock in a blink. She remembered the scream ripping out of her body, tearing up her throat.

  


Everything was a blur after that, Raven was screaming at Jaha and Kane and Abby, trying to get to Clarke. She manged to break the hold the guard had on her, slamming into Clarke and hugging her tightly, pressing something into her hand before she was ripped away and Clarke slumped to the ground, her arms twisted painfully behind her back, clutching whatever Raven had given her for dear life.

  


When she woke up she was in a cramped cold room laying on a hard bed with a thin mattress serving as the only padding between her and the crude metal shoving out of the wall. She'd seen the inside of the Sky Box cells a few times when she was first starting in the clinic she had rounds through the Sky Box, and Murphy had been more than pleased to share how _he_ felt about them, so it wasn't hard for her to place her location.

  


It did take her long a few minutes, however, to realize that she was in solitary confinement. She could hear people talking, and she knew there was a small communal area where they could play chess or read books for their few hours outside of their cells, and all nonviolent offenders had roommates, but she was alone, and cut off.

  


They couldn't risk her telling the others.

  


She got up to pace the room, feeling anxious and cooped up, which wasn't really a surprise given her location. That's when she found the small pile of papers, pencils and the charcoal. She left them where they were, no doubt a gift from her mother, but glanced beyond them at something shiny. Her father's watch.

  


She had a vague memory of Raven pressing something into her hand before she was pulled away and- _oh god_ Raven was almost 18. Panic clawed up Clarke's throat, feelings and emotions suddenly swallowing her whole. She crumpled to the floor of her cell, letting the tears flow, both from the fear of losing Raven and the pain of watching her father floated, knowing it was her fault.

  


She cried until she thought her chest might cave in, and then screamed until her throat was raw and she tasted blood, curling into herself and sagging against the base of the bed. Her father was dead. Her mother sentenced him to death. Her best friend was in lockup, to be floated in two months. Her mother sentenced her to death. She was in lock up, to be floated in less than a year. Her mother sentenced her own daughter to death.

  


They hadn't even started planning, it was barely a flicker. Jake had mentioned it to Abby, thinking his wife would be on his side. She'd run to Jaha almost immediately, to report the treason. They'd all been dragged out of their respective work places, they fought with the council, begging them to see reason. 

  


Jake wouldn't back down, Clarke wouldn't back down, Raven wouldn't back down, and now they were all doomed. It was her fault, she reasoned, for pressing the issue of the ground so much. But she knew, without a shadow of a doubt that Bellamy _was_ real. The ground was survivable and soon they'd all be dead if someone didn't take action. 

  


Clarke's fingers itched to pick up the charcoals, she wanted so desperately to lose herself in art, but she didn't want to give her mother the satisfaction, so instead she crawled into the tiny excuse for a bed, and closed her eyes, painting images of the Earth in her mind.

  


She'd felt Bellamy watching when she was locked up during the council meeting, and she'd certainly felt him when she was watching her father being shoved into the airlock, but she really couldn't feel _anything._ Not the warm buzz of connection between them, not even the little 'door' she was constantly opening and shutting in her mind. Nothing.

  


After months of nonstop contact with Bellamy at all hours of the day, she suddenly found herself alone. She didn't like being alone, it was such a screaming silence that Clarke couldn't bare it. She was completely alone, her mother had betrayed her, her father was dead, her best friend was next.  After the realization that this was real finally hit her she felt a numbness sweep through her. 

  


She laid staring at the ceiling for a long time, she wasn't sure how many days. There were at least four meals brought in and cleaned up. The guards tried to get a few responses out of her, anything to make sure the Abby's daughter was okay, but eventually they gave up when she wouldn't so much as blink. At some point not even shifting around on the bed could ease the pain in her lower back so she had to get up and pace the room, massaging her lower back carefully as she did.

  


The next week went on in a similar fashion, numbness, back pain, loneliness. It was the beginning of the second week when she had a few visitors, including her mother. She'd come in to administer some sort of shot, something about an outbreak that being in solitary couldn't prevent Clarke from catching. When Abby brought the syringe to her arm she lashed out, smacking her hand so hard the vial shot across the room. 

  


A guard was on her in an instant, hitting her lower back with a shock baton. She crumpled to the ground in a heap, Jackson came back in nervously an hour later, and Clarke sat silently while he injected her. He came back every three days, which made Clarke nervous.

  


She had medical training, who did they think they were fooling? After some scrounging around she managed to find the needle she'd knocked from her mother's hand. It was something used to help people who had hallucinations. Clarke was seeing red.   

  


The next time Jackson came in she wasn't as polite, refusing to sit still until a guard held her down. As Jackson was leaving she made sure to speak loudly, “yeah, Bell, I'm fine.” she watched as Jackson's shoulders slumped. They were trying to make her stop imagining Bellamy. She started to pretend she was still talking to him the next three visits and Jackson stopped showing up. 

  


Wells came by, too, once Jackson stopped coming by and the guards realized that Clarke wasn't _actually_ a violent offender. Wells brought slightly used charcoal and pencils and Clarke practically knocked him down with the force of her hug. He wrapped his arms tightly around her and pressed his face against her hair, promising he'd get her out. She knew it was an empty promise, but she didn't question it. He passed along a note from Raven, too, and took one back from her. 

  


Jaha came to see her, hoping to smooth things over, if she'd stopped talking about Bellamy, but she rambled on and on about Bellamy and the grounders, and soon he gave up on that notion too. She smiled smugly when he stood up.

  


“Chancellor?” she asked politely, as he reached the door. He paused and waited for her to speak, “you have a small dropship that can easily fit a hundred kids from lockup. We're expendable, anyways, so what would be the harm, if you don't believe me?” he ignored her and walked out.

  


While she was fine to smugly act like she was still in contact with Bellamy, the reality was that she couldn't even feel the connection anymore, and that terrified her. What if something had happened to him? What if the drugs had taken some strange effect on her brain and shut off her connection? The thought of losing him hurt, so she distracted herself with drawing, first on the papers and then on the walls. It was easy, and relaxing. She could lose herself in it. 

  


It wasn't Bellamy, but it would do, for now.

  


-

  


It was almost one month later when it happened. One moment Clarke was sketching out a waterfall she'd once seen in a book, the next she was standing by a lake filled with laughing teenagers on the ground. It was the smallest glimpse, gone in a flash, but it was enough. She could feel Bellamy's relief through their connection and settled back against her bed for a few moments before continuing her drawing, hoping not focusing on it would bring it back.

  


It only took a few more minutes for her to end up back on the ground, “Bellamy, can you hear me?” she asked, dropping her charcoal.

  


“ **Clarke?”** he was standing near a lake, she could see people splashing around. Roma, Finn, Miller, they were easy for her to put a name too, but there were others as well that she didn't know on sight, **“what happened? Are you alright?”**

  


Clarke shook her head, “they locked me up, my mom she told Jaha about our plan-Gods it wasn't even a plan. She thought Jaha might-but they dragged Raven and my dad and me down to the council room. Nobody wanted to hear anything and then my dad he threatened to go public-I guess they found him recording a message-and it was so bad. The cuffed us and dragged us off for a hearing. 

  


My dad was found guilty of treason. They floated him, right in front of me. It was awful, and Raven, she's turning 18 soon, and I _know_ they'll float her. They were willing to lock up their best mechanic and if they float her it's going to be all my fault.” Clarke admitted, “it's not fair, she never-I mean she knew but she wasn't going to go out in the open, at least not yet. She was convinced she could fix it, and I screwed that up.”

  


Bellamy sighed, moving to sit down by a boulder and watch over his group, “ **Clarke, you can't blame yourself for that. Raven wouldn't be helping if she didn't believe in you. Your dad and mom made some mistakes, but Raven knew what she was getting into.”** Clarke frowned, she didn't feel that way. She knew it was her fault. If she'd kept her mouth shut about Bellamy her father would still be alive, **“he would have come out with it on his own Clarke. Don't blame yourself for that.”**

  


“Can you read my mind?” Clarke gasped.

  


“ **No, but I know how you think.”** Bellamy answered, a horn sounded in the distance, “ **shit. I gotta-.”**

  


“Okay.” Clarke cut him off, feeling the connection fade. She was left alone back in her cell, surrounded by walls covered in charcoal. She frowned, glancing out the door where a pair of boots thudded on the walkway outside. It was time for nightly checks. The door slid open and a guard slipped inside, glancing around with distaste.

  


“Prisoner 319\. It's lights out.” he ordered gruffly. Clarke nodded, getting herself off the floor and into her bed. She knew better than to speak, or even consider disobeying an order. Lash burns hurt, and it turned out being from Alpha did nothing to protect her after she attacked her mother.

  


The man stepped back out and the door slid shut, the lock resounding loudly through the small cell. Two minutes later the lights went out, and Clarke was left in stunning darkness, completely alone. It was unnerving, the silence that filled the Sky Box at night. During the day there was noise at least, even if muffled, but once night rolled around it was silence.

  


Guards patrolled at the top of every hour, thudding loudly past the door, as if being in lockup wasn't awful enough they had to wake you up just when you'd started to fall asleep. If you made any noise at night, or gods forbid had a nightmare and woke up screaming, you were screwed. She'd treated many burns from lashes, and now she was sporting her own. 

  


They were itchy and the burned, and one guard managed to hit her in almost the exact same spot three days in a row when she decided she'd had enough of being locked up, and protested loudly about how putting her in a box wasn't going to stop the reality of the situation. That one had actually bled. She could only imagine what others went through, those without parents who were chief of medical and chief of engineering who went to dinner with the Chancellor weekly. Just the idea scared her.

  


-

  


“You can't keep putting Lexa off forever, Bellamy.” Clarke told him, “what's it going to hurt if you learn to fight? If you don't think war is coming it shouldn't be that big of a deal.” 

  


“ **That's not the problem, the problem is that _she_ wants to train us. Herself. Shouldn't she have better things to do than supervise a bunch of sky people?” ** he'd been in a bad mood since the day that Octavia married Lincoln and moved into TonDC. Most people avoided him now and Clarke couldn't help but think she would, too, if she were on the ground.

  


“Maybe she does, but it'd be better to do what she wanted then risk your alliance with her.” she pointed out.” rolling onto her knees to reach a part of her drawing for shading, “at least that way she'd think you trusted her.”

  


“ **But I don't.”**

  


“That's my point, Bell, you need to make her think you do.”  Clarke laughed, setting her charcoal down and brushing her hands clean on her pants, “I mean seriously, she's gonna force your hand eventually, don't make it come to that.” Bellamy groaned but didn't reply, shifting uncomfortably on his chair at the top of the gate. Clarke laughed, looking out over the ground in front of them. Not much happened on guard duty, but it was a unique point of view for Clarke, she could see over the tops of the trees over to the mountain, it was gorgeous.

  


She was about to say something when she heard boots thumping and commotion outside. It wasn't nearly lunch time yet, and morning checks had already happened. She glanced toward the door just as the guards came in, “Prisoner 319, face the wall.” a guard demanded.

  


“ **Clarke what's going on?”**

  


Clarke didn't answer, staring the guard down, “what's happening?”

  


“Prisoner 319, face the wall.” he demanded again, this time taking out his shock baton. Clarke rose up slowly, lifting her hands in surrender, and turned to the wall. The guard came over, grabbed her left wrist and started to remove her dads watch.

  


“No! That's my dads watch!” she yelled, yanking her arm back. The guard grabbed her again, roughly demanding that she hold out her arm so he could remove the watch. She fought back, yanking her arm free again and twisting around. 

  


She shoved past the guard and raced for the open door, seeing guards and prisoners bustling about outside. She made it almost out when the shock baton hit her spine. She tripped over the threshold and managed to catch herself on the rail outside before she fell to the ground, involuntary tears making their way down her cheeks.

  


Most of the prisoners were in the same position she was, a guard clamping a tight metal band around their left wrist. The guard doing hers threw her fathers watch in her face. She grabbed it and quickly clamped it onto her right arm before she was hauled to her feet. When she didn't start walking she was jabbed with the baton again, she felt the lash down to her toes, “move it, now. Follow the rest of them.” 

  


Clarke struggled to her feet, shuffling cautiously after the rest of the kids in the Sky Box. A young girl no more then 8 is ahead of her, she's crying and screaming, terrified. Everyone else goes around her, the guard has his baton raised to hit her. Clarke surges forward, taking the lash to her shoulder and falling down to one knee in front of her. The little girl looked up at her with wide eyes.

  


“Prisoner 319!” the guard who'd forced her out of her cell yelled after her.

  


“Hi, I'm Clarke.” 

  


“Charlotte.” she whispered.

  


“Well Charlotte, lets get up and get going okay? I promise we'll be going somewhere safe.” Clarke told her, not sure if she was telling the truth. She could only think of one thing that could be happening if they were taking almost 100 prisoners. Clarke could feel other people watching her, but she didn't look away from Charlotte, willing the young girl to believe her.

  


“Okay.” she whispered. Clarke stood up and pulled Charlotte with her, taking her hand and walking forward. Her shoulder was aching, he'd has his baton up higher than the other guards and singed right through her shirt. They were paraded down to the last floor of the Sky Box, through a service hallway and into a dropship.

  


They were each assigned a seat, and hers was on a top level. Charlotte's wasn't, “Clarke, don't leave me.” she begged, eyes watering.

  


“It'll be okay. I'm going to go upstairs, and when we land I'll come down and find you. Just stay in your seat, okay?” she nodded, and after Clarke made sure she was secured she went upstairs to find her seat. She wasn't really paying attention to anything going on around her, trying to reach out to Bellamy again after the two shocks seemed to have fizzled out their connection.

  


“ **Clarke! If you can hear me please-i don't know what happened, please tell me you're alive!”** Bellamy was repeating, over and over again. Clarke tried to reply, but there was a loud thud as the doors shut downstairs, red lights started flashing and everyone was ordered to strap in over the intercom. A countdown started. Jaha appeared on the screen.

  


_-You're our last hope. We have reason to believe the ground is safe again, that others are alive. We will try to get you as close as possible, find the others, get in contact with us. May we meet again._ Jaha's face fizzled out of the screen. The red lights stopped flashing, coloring the upstairs in a solid red haze. The dropship departed from the Ark with a loud bang and the others screamed as they were plummeted toward the ground.

  


“Bellamy, I'm coming.” she whispered, squeezing her eyes shut as screams surrounded her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm so excited about the feedback, I'm glad you guys are enjoying this story so much!


	7. Chapter 7

“ **Bellamy, I'm coming.”** Clarke's voice was barely a whisper in his head, but he'd heard it. He tipped his head up to the sky just in time to see the bright flash. Just the faintest hint of something falling from the sky, getting bigger as it hurdled toward the ground. 

  


Clarke.

  


As soon as Clarke had cut him off he'd herded everyone out of the lake and back toward their camp, something was happening up on the Ark and he needed to be ready to act, because it was probably going to mean more trouble for the ground. They'd just stepped inside the gates when Clarke had spoken, “Clarke, who else is with you?” Bellamy asked, stopping in the middle of the camp, hoping to get a glimpse through her eyes. 

  


A few passer bys stopped to stare at him, sky people who had a hard time believing in the idea of being bonded to someone mentally, but he ignored them trying hard to focus on Clarke. Only on Clarke. The feeling of her side of the bond pulsed around him as her fear sky rocketed. 

  


“ **Just kids Bell, all of us we're kids. A hundred from lockup.”** she managed to say, her voice was just barely above a whisper. Everyone around her was screaming and panicking, it was chaos. Jaha was on the screen, it looked like the same message they'd gotten when they were dropped. Couldn't even waste his breath to give these kids a new message.

  


Clarke cut him off with a scream, Bellamy's stomach knotted as he took off at a run across camp and into the command tent. Aurora was inside with David Miller, one of the original guards and now the head of their security and her second, and looked thoroughly pissed that Bellamy had barged in. Aurora jumped away from him, turning to most likely scold Bellamy's abrupt entrance.

  


Bellamy didn't really care, “they're sending them down. A hundred kids from lock up. _Kids_.” Bellamy told her, “Clarke is with them, and they don't look like they're heading to the right area. It's like they didn't even try to send them to _us_.” 

  


Aurora's face scrunched up with worry, she waved David out closing the tent flap securely behind him, “you're sure? Just kids? No guards, not Jaha.”

  


“It's what Clarke said. They think we're all dead, they wouldn't risk sending anyone important.” Bellamy affirmed. Aurora paced around the room, packing thing into a bag as she went, “Lexa will already be moving, they can't get there first, who knows what will happen to our people.”

  


“Bellamy, the grounders are _our_ people now. I know what you're saying but watch your words. Let's go.” she pushed him out of the tent, “David, you're in charge in my absence. Keep this between us, lock the camp down. Nobody in or out.” he nodded sending her a fleetingly worried look before barking orders at guards who were standing around. 

  


Bellamy had to force his feet to walk to the stables when all he wanted to do was run, run straight out the gate and to TonDC, to Clarke. Instead he walked to the stables to where they kept the three horses their camp had been gifted as calmly as possible. In silence they saddled them up for the ride, grabbing two prepacked bags to take with them. Bellamy grabbed a gun and slung it across his back. They may not need to worry about the grounders but there were too many animals to go out unarmed.

  


David and Miller met them at the gate, “travel safe.” the elder Miller whispered, giving Aurora the briefest of hugs and a look that lingered and said more things than Bellamy was comfortable with.

  


They'd been on the ground for years, but David Miller's wife had only died one summer ago. He turned to Nathan Miller, who was looking away the same as Bellamy. Miller clapped Bellamy on the back and whispered, “may we meet again.”

  


“May we meet again.” Aurora whispered.

  


Bellamy swallowed the lump in his throat and mounted his horse, “May we meet again.” 

  


The Millers thought this was going to turn into a suicide mission. Maybe it was. 

  


Per their treaty, they were to take the side of the Trikru if those who fell chose to go against them. Bellamy knew he wouldn't be able to do that, not if it meant going against a hundred scared kids who didn't know any better, who were dropped to the ground because they were expendable. He would have to make sure those scared kids listened to him. He doubted any of them would listen to Clarke. She was a higher up, she was privileged, Clarke was probably in more danger with them then anything.

  


That thought alone made him swallow nervously. She was finally on the ground, and it might kill her before he could get to her. Aurora rode silently beside him, looking as if she was simply out for a nice ride rather than on a mission to save a hundred kids.

  


Bellamy absently wondered when she went from being his mother to simply being his leader, from being the woman who told him myths so he could get to sleep at night and talked to him about things going on in the camp instead of hiding behind a closed tent flap and marrying off his sister. He couldn't remember the last time she'd treated him as her son. 

  


“What are we going to do?” Bellamy asked, trying to keep the worry out of his voice. She ignored it, he knew she could hear it, but it wasn't important to her. Nothing was except keeping the treaty with the Trikru. He could understand that to an extent, their survival depended on it, but these were kids.

  


“I am going to talk to Lexa, and you are _not_ going to break this treaty.” Aurora warned, her eyes narrowing, “Lexa may excuse Clarke as your bonded, but the rest of those kids wont mean anything to her if I can't convince her they should.”

  


Bellamy nodded staring silently down at the blonde mane of his horse, trying to reach out to Clarke but she had blocked him off. Two heartbeats later there was the loud sonic crash of a dropship meeting Earth and smoke billowing from the East, possibly a weeks ride from TonDC, and far away from any other Trikru settlements that Bellamy knew of. 

  


He sighed in relief, at least they didn't commit an act of war just by landing.

  


“We should move.” Aurora declared, spurring her horse into a run. Bellamy did the same as they raced across the path to TonDC where Lexa was still watching over the warriors training, waiting for Bellamy to bring back kids from their camp, kids like the hundred that had just landed.

  


“I think I have an idea.” Bellamy called up to her.

  


-

  


They arrived at TonDC just as Lexa was about to set out with her group. He was agitated to see it was mostly her top warriors, no semi-friendly faces. Indra and Anya looked displeased that Bellamy and Aurora were riding through the gates. Bellamy scowled, but he did spot Lincoln in the back with Nyko, so Lexa _was_ bringing a healer. He just didn't know for who.

  


“I was wondering if you'd make it in time.” Lexa smiled coolly swinging off her horse fluidly, “I assumed Bellamy would be coming, but it is a surprise to see you, Aurora.” she motioned for her party to dismount and relax before leading Bellamy and Aurora into her tent.

  


“Your bonded was sent down.” Lexa guessed, sitting down in her throne, one leg tossed over the side. She looked casual, but Bellamy knew she had at least three knives on her and a guard close enough to her door. It was almost as if it was a trap.

  


“Yes.” Bellamy answered, “my bonded and ninety nine other _children_ were sent down. From the Sky Box, our prison.” Aurora glared at him sharply, he clenched his fists at his sides.

  


Lexa's eyes appraised him slowly, “criminals?”

  


“Children.” Bellamy corrected stubbornly, “even the smallest crimes are capital on the Ark. Some of these kids simply bumped into the wrong person in a hallway. They're probably hurt and scared, they're just kids.”

  


Aurora gave him another sharp look and he shut up, his nails biting into his palms, “Please, Commander, we only ask to accompany you to meet them and give them your terms, to make sure they understand that they're in no danger as long as they agree to our rules. You said that _if_ they rebelled we would need to take your side, but we want to make sure all of our people survive.”

  


“And if they rebel?” Lexa asked, looking to Bellamy.

  


“I will make sure they don't.” Bellamy declared stubbornly, “I will not break our treaty.” 

  


A tense silence followed, Lexa studied him closely, idly toying with her knife in a way meant to intimidate them both. Bellamy had seen it too many times for it to scare him, he exhaled slowly, un-clenched his fists, and waited.

  


“Very well. We will ride out tonight, until night fall and stop at the nearest village. I am bringing Nyko and Lincoln as well as two apprentices, I assume there will be injured much like your drop. Anya and Indra will come along, Anya as our current war chief, and Indra as TonDC's representative. Gustus will also come with, because he's my second, and Bellamy now you will join us.” she stood up, sliding her knife back into its holster at her hip.

  


Aurora stepped forward and Lexa raised a sharp eyebrow, dark eyes narrowing, “I wish to go, the more people from the Sky-”

  


Lexa cut her off, “Aurora you should not travel in your condition. You will stay here, you can help Octavia fill in for Nyko. You have been on the ground for years, these kids will not recognize you anymore than they will recognize Bellamy.” 

  


Aurora winced at Lexa's words, holding up a hand to silence any of Bellamy's questions, but he wasn't having any of it his earlier thoughts rising. She had a condition and hadn't told him. Rage blossomed in his chest, “In _your condition_? What condition might that be?” Bellamy growled. 

  


Aurora closed her eyes, leaning on the table as she exhaled slowly. When she opened her eyes they were filled with a silent plea for Bellamy to drop it, “It's nothing for you to worry about, Bellamy. I will explain to you when you return with Clarke, and the rest of our people so that we can integrate them in our camps, and see which ones can be fit to train here with Lexa's blessing.”

  


“You're still imposing the 16 years old rule.” Lexa stated, it was a question but one she was confident she already knew the answer to.

  


“Anyone over 12 can train, but if it comes to war I don't want anyone under 16 going out unless strictly necessary. I will not decide who lives and dies, this is not the Ark.” Aurora answered, Lexa looked pleased by this change, only a minor tip of her lips showed it, but it was enough.

  


“We must leave before we lose light.” Lexa turned and swept out of the room. Bellamy glanced to his mother, frowning, before following the commander out of the tent and to the horses. He noticed that they already had his horse re-saddled with supplies for the trip, he gave Lincoln and tight thankful smile and swung himself up onto the horse, setting out after Lexa.

  


“I'm coming to you, Clarke. Stay safe.”   

  


He didn't get an answer.

  


-

  


“Repeat it.” Indra barked.

  


Bellamy huffed, closing his eyes to try and shake off his irritation, “Ai laik belomi kom skai kru. Ai gaf gouthru klir. Ona protection gon heda leksa.” Bellamy repeated for what he thought might have been the fiftieth time on their journey, “I've been learning this phrase since I turned 16, I've got it down.”

  


Indra glared at him, ready to remind him for the sixteenth time that this phrase would be the only thing to safe his pathetic life if he were to get in trouble, when Lexa turned to them, eyes narrowing. She hated her silence being interrupted. 

  


“Enough, Indra.” Lexa commanded, before continuing in trigedasleng. The others fell back and Lexa drew up short so her horse trotted in line with his, “your bonded, what was she up there?” she jutted her chin up toward the sky. It was an innocent enough question, but he knew she was trying to figure out how best to use their bond to her advantage. 

  


“She was a healer. Her mother was the head healer, her father was an engineer. She's good person. I know she'll see reason, but I haven't heard from her. Something must've gone wrong.” Bellamy admitted. It was a half truth, he could still feel her and _she_ was okay, but she was pushing him out, like she did when she worked the night shifts and they got busy. 

  


“She could help out Nyko, train under him and take that knowledge back to your camp. Do you know anyone else they're sending down?” Lexa asked, he could tell she was plotting out how to make these kids work best to her advantage without breaking her agreement with Aurora.

  


“I didn't see anyone when she was being loaded, nobody I knew was in lock up when I was sent down. They're just terrified kids, sent down here to die by a leader who thinks they're expendable because they're a lower class. They just need someone who cares.”

  


“Caring is for the weak Bellamy.”

  


“Then fake it.” he snapped, “because that is the only way they'll respond.”

  


Lexa pondered his words silently, if there was one thing she could respect it was manipulation. She was good at it, and Bellamy was basically walking her right into the easiest path. 

  


“They landed far away, I'm worried they're in a newly acquired stretch of land for another village. We must go to them first, before they try to start a war nobody wants. Even if they did land there, I will not use this as an act of war, but if they rebel I cannot help.” Lexa told him, “I cannot afford that weakness, not even for your bonded.”

  


Bellamy ground his teeth but did not respond. 

  


They rode until the sun started to set and Lexa motioned for everyone to veer off their path, “we're going to stop in Annan for the night, we'll get a better start in the morning when we don't have to wait on Bellamy.” they turn off the path they're on and start toward Annan, Lexa sends Anya ahead to prepare.

  


“We'll set out at first light, and hopefully make it to the site in two days time.” Lexa told him.

  


“They're that close?” Bellamy asked, glancing toward where he'd seen the smoke coming from.

  


“Yes. A rider brought word that they've landed just outside of Annan. Once we settle in I'll leave you in peace to see if you can reach your bonded. Then you will join us for dinner.” they reached the town in almost no time, and a crowd welcomed them, taking their horses to the stables and leading them to their assigned housing.

  


“Mochof.” Bellamy told the young boy who showed him to his room. The boy looked surprised that Bellamy knew his language, but didn't say anything. Instead he nodded and walked off without a word, letting the tent flap close behind him.

  


Bellamy shrugged off his jacket, setting it on the small basket beside the furs that made up the bed in the small tent he was being given. He kicked off his shoes and sank onto the furs, closing his eyes with a sigh, “Clarke, if you're out there please...” he tried to push against the wall she put up but it wasn't going to work, “please, just let me know you're alright.”

  


“ **We lost contact with the Ark, there's two people dead, someone got hurt when a panther-.”** it was almost like she _couldn't_ talk to him. She was panicking, he could feel it, “ **are you close?”**

  


“Not close enough. We'll be there soon, are you safe?”

  


“ **No. I don't think we are. Bellamy I can't, if they see me talking to myself. Please just get here fast.”** she pleaded, he felt his heart breaking 

  


“Okay, did anyone else come with you? Anyone you know?” 

  


“ **Raven, Murphy, Wells, but everyone is against him. They think I am too, its for the best for now. A little girl named Charlotte, too, she got hurt. A panther, I think. We killed it, is it safe?”** she seemed distracted, and she was clearly hiding from everyone in some dark corner.

  


“Yes, just cook it until it's not pink. Okay, stay safe, I'll be there soon. Just tell everyone they're safe, we've just solidified the treaty with Lexa, you will be safe with us, I promise.” 

  


“ **Okay.”** she whispered, before cutting him off again. Bellamy sighed, rubbing a hand across his face. Clarke was terrified, he could feel that much, it made him want to get to her as soon as possible. Of course, Lexa and a village full of grounders stood between them.

  


He ran his hands through his hair, dropping his arm across his eyes. He knew he needed to be getting to the dinner soon, but he just wanted to get back on the horse and get to Clarke. He didn't know exactly what he was going to do once he saw her, they'd only know each other for a handful of months, and while he'd told her oft the stories of the bonded, they'd never done more than talk about them.

  


He knew he was probably going to fall stupidly hard for her, but he didn't know where she stood, and that terrified him almost as much as the thought of someone else getting to their landing sight before he could. 

  


He knew, from the stories, that they were meant to be together but they were real people and this wasn't some fairy tale, it was real life which meant that there was a chance nothing would come from this bond, and that hurt more than when she was in the sky. When she was up there it was still not real, it was still just a fantasy in his head, and there was no potential for his heart to break, but now she was on the ground and he was petrified.

  


“Bellamy.” Lincoln called, he opened his eyes, focusing on his brother in law standing at the tent flap his worries getting abruptly shoved aside, “dinner, come on.”

  


Bellamy shoved his feet back into his shoes and stood up, grabbing his jacket as he stepped out of the tent behind Lincoln, Nyko was with him and gave him a stiff nod before they headed toward the center of the village. They grabbed plates, of what Bellamy didn't know, and walked over to an empty log around the fire. 

  


“Did you get in contact with her?” Lincoln asked softly.

  


Bellamy nodded, “two kids dead, no contact with the Ark, someone got hurt when a panther showed up. She said they managed to kill it and I told her how to cook it. They sent their chancellors son down, one of their top mechanics and at least one other person whose on Clarke's side. She's worried about them seeing her talking to herself.”

  


“Anyone who doesn't know of the bonded would be. She'll be okay. We will get to her, I promise.” Lincoln told him. Bellamy nodded, biting into the leg of whatever they were serving. He thought it might be some kind of bird. It tasted good enough, but he wasn't hungry.

  


“Bellomi kom Skaikru.” he looked up from the ground to Gustus standing before him, “come with me.” with a sigh he stood up, leaving Lincoln and Nyko behind as he followed Gustus across the camp to where Lexa was seated among the higher ranking officials. As the Skaikru's representative he, too, was a higher ranking official. Still, he'd rather be eating with Lincoln and Nyko. 

  


Lexa addressed him first, “Bellamy, have you heard from your bonded?”

  


“Briefly. There are two dead and a young girl was injured by a panther and that's all she had time to say.” Lexa nodded, glancing at those around the table and speaking quickly in their language. Something about medicinal herbs. He still hadn't picked up on the language, used to only dealing with warriors and Nyko. Gustus shoved Bellamy down onto the log beside Anya and sat on his other side, squashing him in for the rest of the night. 

  


By the time he was back into his tent he was feeling drunk and groggy, after all sitting with the Heda meant being handed constant drinks and expected to be grateful for the hospitality. Being the commanders son was a pain in the ass. He tumbled into the bed of furs, face down, and fell asleep, but only for a few minutes. A noise spooked him and when he opened his eyes he was staring at the embers of a dying fire and butterflies glowing in the woods.

  


“Clarke?” he murmured, fur tickling his face.

  


“ **Bell. It's so pretty.”** Clarke whispered, **“I feel drunk.”**

  


“That's probably me.” he whispered, the words feeling heavy on his tongue, “sorry.”

  


“ **Sober up soon, everyone's asleep now, but I'm not gonna be much use if I'm drunk.”** Clarke giggled, “ **there was someone watching our camp today. They were hiding pretty well, but I spotted them for a second, wearing a weird mask. Are we in danger?”**

  


Bellamy considered lying for only half a second, “yes, probably. Try to keep a perimeter, maybe a  fence or something if you can, as crude as it can be. If there is someone watching you Lexa won't just march in there to get to you, she has to protect the treaty of the twelve clans, too.”

  


“ **Right, so fence. I think we can do that, well at least Raven can.”** she paused, blinking up at the stars before looking out into the darkness of the forest around her, her unease traveled through their bond, “ **Bell, what if we start getting attacked?”** her voice is tiny and soft, and it breaks his heart.

  


“Do what you can to survive, Clarke, I'll protect you. All of you. This isn't fair. It isn't your fault.” Bellamy promised, his stomach clenching at the thought. They were defenseless kids, sent down with nothing to help them survive.

  


“ **Goodnight, Bellamy.”**

  


“Goodnight, Clarke. I'll see you soon, I promise.” she nodded her head and he watched her walk back into the dropship, finding Raven and curling up next to her. As soon as she was asleep Bellamy drifted back off, burrowing into his furs and falling into a fitful sleep. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This one took a bit longer than I thought, hope you enjoy it!


	8. Chapter 8

Raven's arm was heavy across Clarke's stomach when she started to stir. She was drowsy enough and managed to drift off for a few more minutes before she couldn't take the unrelenting stiffness of her arm trapped between her body and the dropship floor and needed to get up. Careful, not wanting to wake Raven up, Clarke slipped herself out from underneath her arm and gently padded across the floor and up the stairs

  


She was still asleep, or unconscious, Clarke really wasn't sure which. Her leg was in bad shape and she'd hit her head on a rock when the animal jumped on her. Clarke had managed a tourniquet and staunched the bleeding to her leg with bandages and what little medical supplies they had, but it wasn't going to be enough, not to keep Charlotte alive and certainly not to keep the rest of them alive.

  


She needed Bellamy.

  


Clarke closed her eyes, sighing softly and trying to relax her shoulders. The weight of the world seemed to be crushing down on top of her and she just needed someone to help her lift it. She opened her eyes again, blinking away tears. Charlotte's skin was ashen, her lips were cracked, and her veins were neon down her arms.

  


Clarke was a doctor. She'd passed her tests and started her residency. She may have only been trained to doctor those on the Ark, but she was still a doctor. She needed to focus and tend to her patients needs. Charlotte needed her bandages changed, her vitals checked and logged, and she needed water.

  


Up on the Ark Clarke had never been in this position, and she could hardly blame herself for the two boys who died during the landing, but she'd promised Charlotte she'd be okay back on the Ark when she was being forced onto the dropship and now here she was, almost dead.

  


Clarke felt Bellamy on the other end of their bond, strong and calm, it anchored her back to Earth.  Clarke couldn't worry about Charlotte's possible death right now. Now she had ninety eight other kids to worry about, ninety eight other kids to keep alive and safe after doing all that she could for Charlotte. Clarke set to work replacing the bandages, taking her vitals, and wiping her face with a damp cloth to try and relieve the fever. 

  


“Help will be here soon, everything will be okay.” she murmured, pressing her forehead against Charlotte's for just a brief second before moving along.

  


The two other injured kids were in chair on the other side of the dropship. They were both awake now, one kid had a claw mark down his arm, the other across his chest, they'd been standing on either side of Charlotte. She changed their bandages and gave them half a pain pill each. 

  


“Can we go outside? Is it safe?” the older of the two asked, eyeing Clarke like she had all of the answers. They were looking at her like they would look at the Chancellor on the Ark. The way she looked at her mother when she was young and scared. It terrified Clarke.

  


“Yes, we're going to build a wall, if you're up to helping.” they nodded and preceded Clarke downstairs. 

  


The only person still sleeping was Dax, holed up in the corner he'd found when he made his way back after storming off last night. Clarke wasn't going to bother with him. She made sure to tiptoe out of the dropship, pausing beyond the parachute door they'd configured to let her eyes adjust to the burning morning sun.

  


“I'm never going to get used to the colors.” Murphy commented from her left where he was leaning against the dropship, grinning, “everything is so _fucking_ green.” Clarke laughed, short and barking, before stepping off the dropship door and into the grass, “so what's the plan doc?” he asked, falling into step with her as she made a line for the meat.

  


Clarke stood by, making sure everyone got a chunk of what was left of their meat and that nobody took more than their share. She didn't want to turn this into the Ark, but right now they only had so much. Luck was on her side since yesterday's big blow up everyone was practically running away from her in fear of inciting Murphy's screaming or Raven's threatening. 

  


“We need to build a fence, with what we have. They sent us with some basic tools so grab as many as you can and start finding scraps to put together. Maybe Raven can help with some ideas. Get whoever you can to help with that.” Clarke sighed, her eyes flickering to Wells who was sitting by himself with no food and everyone giving him a wide birth, “they dropped us too damn far away from the other ship.”

  


Murphy gave her a look, almost warning her not to speak those words to loud, “careful.”

  


Clarke huffed, “I know Murphy. Let me know if there's anything I can do for the fence. I'm going to try and map out where we are. Maybe we can find some water.” he nodded, grabbing a chunk of meat for himself before heading across camp, barking at a few of the older kids to follow after him.

  


Once she's sure everyone has eaten she takes the last two slabs of meat before walking over to Wells. She held out a piece of him, narrowing her eyes until he accepted it, “eat this, go find Murphy, tell him you'll do what ever he asks. And then do it. I can't protect you right now, Wells. _I_ know who you are, but they don't. Show them you're not the man who sent us down here to die.”

  


Wells stared up at her silently, and then nodded.

  


Satisfied she turned on her heel and marches inside. She really didn't _want_ to, but anything is better than one person risking the safety of everyone else when the grounders eventually showed up. Dax was still sleeping in the dropship. She didn't exactly want to be the one to wake him up, and she honestly would really love some food, but she needed him to stop stirring up problems.

  


She carefully nudged his foot and stepped back as his eyes snap open. Holding out the piece of food silently between them like a peace offering, “if you don't mind they're going to try and build a fence. Here's some breakfast.” her stomach rumbled in protest. She hoped he can't hear it, but from the look on his face he probably did. She couldn't worry about it now.

  


“Okay.” he muttered, taking the piece of meat silently. He headed outside without another word. Clarke sighed, trying not to relive yesterday, but it was almost impossible not to. Dax had been arguing with her, about whether or not they should stay or keep moving until they found somewhere safe to stay. Clarke insisted on staying, Dax wanted to keep moving until they found water. 

  


Then the animal attacked.

  


Charlotte and the two boys next to her screamed as the thing clawed at them before pouncing on Charlotte. Everyone else backed away, screaming and panicking. Clarke had seen the knife, the one from the hunting supplies kit. She bent and scooped it up, shouldering past Dax and threw herself against the creature, tackling it off of Charlotte and thrusting the knife into its chest, once, twice.

  


It was quick and effective, she didn't get hurt at all.

  


After that she began barking orders to get the injured inside the dropship, and to get her bandages or cloth and _do not touch her she will die_. By the time Charlotte was bandaged up and in the dropship Clarke was exhausted, shaking and numb. She had made her way outside and sank down into the damp night grass, feeling the moisture soak into her clothes.

  


Her hands, clothes and hair were covered in blood, the knife was strapped to her boot, and her heart was racing in her chest. That was when Bellamy had reached out to her, she'd finally dropped the barrier and talked to him shortly, glancing around to make sure nobody noticed, trying to calm herself. It worked, of course his soothing voice would work wonders on her nerves.

  


After their brief conversation, Clarke had turned to the nearest kid – Byron – and asked him to start a big fire. 

  


“You're not in charge here, Princess.” Dax had bellowed, storming up to her where she was sat on the ground, looking up at him with a vacant expression.

  


“Actually, Dax,” Murphy's voice slowly drawled, his feet crunching in the grass behind her, “she _is_ in charge here. Byron, get the fire started, and get the Princess anything she wants.” Murphy spat the nickname right back at him. Dax looked ready to argue, in fact Clarke was almost sure of it, the way his hands were clenching into fists at his side.

  


“Anyone who has a problem with that, can come through me.” Raven announced loudly, stepping up beside her, Clarke's head swiveled between her two friends and then she settled back on Dax. Her brain still felt numb, the blood was drying, it was all she could smell.

  


Dax looked around, quite the crowd had formed, “and does everyone else agree with this bullshit? That a little privileged girl from Alpha should be in charge? Why don't we just put chancellor junior in charge as well, so we can do their bidding, just like on the fucking Ark.”

  


A murmur rippled through the crowd and then someone she couldn't see spoke up, “she killed that creature and saved Charlotte's life while you screamed like a _child._ ” that made the murmuring get louder, and soon they all started yelling. It was chaos, it was overwhelming.

  


Clarke was still sitting on the ground, covered in Charlotte's blood and the panthers, and everyone was so damn loud, “Enough.” she bellowed glancing up at Raven and Murphy for a brief second before she got to her feet and stared Dax down, as best as she could given her height, “until we're safe and comfortable, everyone has decided I'm in charge-if you don't like it you're more than welcome to leave. If you don't want to leave than shut up and wait for dinner to be done.” 

  


He'd stormed off and she'd asked Murphy to do his best to skin the panther and cook the meat until it was burned before she walked into the dropship to check on the other two kids, her hands were still covered in blood but she didn't have time for that.

  


Now, though, she did. She'd done her best to wipe her hands in the damp grass, but there was still blood dried in the cracks and crevices of her fingers and under her nails, her clothes were soaked and her hair had dried patches. She needed to find water, and edible plants, but there were dangerous animals in the woods, not to mention possibly unhappy grounders. She needed to find a map. She needed Bellamy.

  


Jaha had said something about maps being in with their supplies, so Clarke began to dig through the piles of crap that had been sent down but that was a task in itself and soon she found herself piling up various supplies by use. In the end she only found one map, and it was for Mount Weather, where Bellamy's dropship had landed.

  


“Fucking useless.” she muttered, tossing it aside. 

  


“Doc, we could use some more help gathering wood.” Murphy called in, lingering in the doorway wearily. Clarke nodded, following him outside with heavy footfalls.

  


They put together a small party of people to go out into the woods, not too far, and root around for materials to build. Clarke went with them, leaving Raven and Murphy at camp. She knew some of the kids, Fox, Myles, and Jasper from various trips to the clinic. Monty, Jasper's best friend, also came with and Drey, a tall quiet boy from Mecha who'd known Raven and Finn when they were younger.

  


From there they split into two teams, heading off to scrounge for wood. Clarke went with Jasper and Monty while Drey, Myles and Fox headed off in the opposite direction, “Be back to camp by the time the sun is here in the Sky.” Clarke told them, pointing. Fox nodded and they parted.

  


They would find giant pieces of wood and between the three of them carry them back to the camp before heading back out. It was tedious, and it took them about four hours to get enough wood and scraps from the dropship to give them a fence. It was crude, and probably not the most secure, but even so she felt safe.

  


It was almost late evening now, the sun was still in the sky but already it was getting chilly, the camp was filled with fires and groups of kids circled around them. Wells had managed to gather some supplies and two kids and set traps. They had rabbits and squirrels for dinner, and then what was left of the ration packets.

  


Clarke put Fox and Drey in charge of passing out the rations while she grabbed Wells and Murphy to go through the supplies in the bunker, “we have tents, and some skills books. We need to divide up groups for hunting and gathering, a search party for water, and maybe some medicinal plants.”

  


Murphy spoke up first, “Monty and Jasper would be good for that. They were locked up for stealing from Agro and making shine.” Clarke nodded.

  


“And Wells,” Raven piped up, “he aced Earth skills. He should be able to help with plant ID's. Drey is good at tracking.”

  


“We'll bring it up in an open forum. Nobody is going to do anything they don't want to.” Clarke announced. She grabbed one of the boxes and walked out, Raven and Murphy grabbed the other two and followed her out. 

  


“Everyone.” Clarke called, dropping a box in the center of their small camp, “I know we're all tired from working on the fence all day, but that's not our biggest problem. Wells, Mick and Hanna managed to get us dinner tonight, and hopefully breakfast in the morning, but we still need water, and more food. Tomorrow we're going to set up groups to hunt for food, plants, water and to guard the gate. In the morning you can pick your assignments and then we'll figure out whose going to what. I don't want everyone out at once, we don't know whats out there.”

  


With that she sat down next to Jasper on a log, grabbed a ration packet and sighed, “so, I hear you and Monty make shine and steal weed.” she commented. Jasper's face flushed and started spluttering nervously, “relax, I was just thinking it might be useful. Not the shine, but your time on Agro. You know edible plants.”

  


“Yeah. I could spot a bunch. I know how to describe them, too.” Jasper informed her eagerly.

  


“Really?” Clarke asked, an idea coming to mind, “tomorrow you and I will have to sit down and start a book so we can have a reference for people who don't know what to look for. If you don't mind you don-.”

  


Jasper held up a hand, “It's cool Clarke, you don't have to worry about seeming like you're bossing us around. We put you in charge. We _want_ you to be the boss.” Clarke nodded stiffly, finishing off her ration packet and standing up. Jasper reached for her wrist and tugged her back down, “It wouldn't be so bad for you to sit with us, though.”

  


“Okay.” she smiled, shifting until she was comfortable on the log. Jasper started telling her a story about him and Monty sneaking out of Agro, and soon Monty, Raven, Murphy, Fox and Drey were sitting around with them, laughing and telling stories of their own. 

  


“You think that's a good break out story you should hear the one about Clarke on the day of the original drop.” Wells commented, awkwardly stepping up behind the small group.

  


Everyone was tense for a moment before Murphy grinned, sitting forward to look Wells in the eye, “Well lets hear it, what did our rebel princess do?” 

  


Wells sat down beside Drey and started in, telling her daring escape from the clinic like it was some big grand adventure, instead of a kid crawling through a vent because she got bored. Clarke couldn't help but admire the way he told the story though. If she didn't know how truly lame the escape was she'd be pretty impressed with herself.

  


The night continued on as the air grew thick and damp. Clarke was about to call it a night when there was a sound, like water falling against a sheet, and then all at once the sky opened up and poured down on them, “it's raining.” Clarke whispered, relishing in the feeling of the water soaking into her clothes, “It's raining!” she said a bit louder, standing up on the log and raising her hands back to let the water soak into her shirt.

  


Cheers erupted around camp, people started dancing and laughing. Clarke scrubbed her fingers through her soaked hair, breaking up the clumps of blood. It felt amazing to be soaked in water without having to worry about rationing. It was amazing. She closed her eyes, feeling the cold droplets pelt against her face until someone grabbed her arm and dragged her into a spin, she opened her eyes to find Raven laughing gleefully across from her.

  


The rain only lasted for a little while, but it was enough, and soon everyone was gathering around a massive fire trying to get as warm and dry as possible before turning in for the night. Soon Clarke was sitting by the dwindling fire with Raven, watching the rolling red embers burn at the bottom of the pit, “I'll save a space for when you're done with lover boy, okay?”

  


“Thanks, Raven.” Clarke smiled up at her briefly before turning her eyes back to the pit. She hadn't felt him all day, she had no clue what was going on with him, how close they were. She didn't know anything except how scared she was that he hadn't contacted her all day.

  


As soon as Raven was out of earshot she closed her eyes, “Bell? Are you there?” she didn't feel anything, just emptiness, loneliness. She opened her eyes and stared at the rolling embers, transfixed with how the heat was alive and beating within the last few logs, “Bellamy...I need you.”

  


“ **Soon.”** she caught a glimpse of a table, the commander, and some woman with blonde hair and scars. She looked terrifying. Clarke knew he couldn't talk, so she didn't bother replying. Instead she turned her eyes to the trees beyond the gates. The grounder had been there for hours, watching them. She'd spotted him in the trees, but he hadn't moved, so she hadn't said anything.

  


“He's here again. Are we safe?”

  


“ **Yes.** ” Clarke couldn't say whether or not she believed him. She needed to believe him, she truly did. She shifted to sit on the ground, leaning against the log, and stared back at him through the darkness. She would not leave her people defenseless, “ **You landed in the Broadleaf clan's territory and they're not too eager to let you leave. Just try to keep where you go limited. Don't wander too far, and nobody out alone.”**

  


Clarke didn't bother to look away from the grounder watching her, “I don't think he'd like it very much if we tried to leave.” 

  


“ **He's just there to take a count, see how many of you there are and what weapons and resources you have. He wont hurt you. Quit staring him down. Go inside, you're safe. I promise.** ” Clarke scowled and looked away from the grounder, standing up and kicking some damp dirt into the remaining embers.

  


“I'm scared. I can't do this. Charlotte is dying.” she murmured, looking down at her hands. The blood was mostly gone now, but she could still feel its warmth and the thickness as it eased into the creases of her hands.

  


“ **You can do this. She will be okay, she has you. We'll be there soon, I promise.”**

  


“You better be. Goodnight.” Clarke whispered, closing off their connection and heading inside. Raven saved her a spot as promised and she easily slid onto the ground beside her friend, closing her eyes and willing the world to slip away for a few hours.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this chapter took so long, I've rewritten it a couple of times. I just couldn't decide how I wanted it to go. Hope you enjoy it!


	9. Chapter 9

Two weeks. Two long horrible weeks full of negotiations, arguments, fighting and still nothing had been decided. The Delinquents were still trapped in their little camp inside Broadleaf territory, and they didn't care about the Heda's words. When the dropship landed it had killed a little girl, the village leaders daughter.

Bellamy was getting increasingly agitated. It was bad enough that the other 11 clans were getting restless with Lexa, but Broadleaf was close to Trikru, they were always good about listening. Not now, and Lexa was getting increasingly frustrated by Bellamy's interruptions that he'd been banned from the meetings.

He managed to get himself put on the hunting crews, but they always made sure to keep him in the group that went away from the dropship site. He was dealing as best he could, until the sun went down and he could talk to Clarke, who was becoming more and more stressed as the Camp made her their official chancellor and doctor, with Raven and Murphy as her backups.

She was doing the best she could, managing to set up a stronger fence and learn to hunt, but last night she'd revealed what he'd been worried about since they landed. They were getting sick from the constant up and down flux of the weather as the world tried to shake away winter.

There was only so much he could do, the villages healer was new, and he didn't know much about collecting things to help with a cold and Nyko was too busy helping him to help Bellamy figure out what he needed to get.

What Bellamy never expected was for Lexa to wake him in the middle of the night, throwing a rucksack into his face, “Ai laik Bellomi kom Skaikru. Ai gaf gouthru klir ona heda leksa.” she growled lowly, “repeat that and nothing else if you get caught.” he nodded, scrambling to his feet and pulling on his boots.

“What am I supposed to do?” he asked, glancing at her quickly.

Lexa shook her head, “hodnes ste nou kwelnes gon keryon.”

Love is not weakness for soulmates. She was gone before Bellamy could ask her what she meant.

“I'm coming Clarke. I'll be there soon.” he whispered, pulling on his jacket and then the rucksack. He glanced around outside, but everyone was in their tents or houses, sound asleep save for Indra and Gustus who stood guard outside of Lexa's tent. Indra nodded at him and averted her eyes, as did Gustus. 

As quiet as he could be Bellamy slipped out of the village and into the woods, sticking to the lesser used paths, never more thankful for the glowing trees and butterflies to guide him. He knew he was more likely to get speared by a boar or attacked by a panther than be caught by a grounder, but he couldn't risk it. Not with the chance he had.

Be careful Bellamy. They're outside of camp. A bunch of them. They're not doing anything, but I know they're there. There's an entrance at the back of the dropship where we sneak in and out. I haven't seen anyone there yet.

“I'll see you soon.” he repeated. Clarke's relief flooded through him and he sped up to a jog as he moved through the branches. He knows if he gets caught or things go south Lexa won't be able to save him, but she might not even be able to save the delinquents, as she's taken to calling their group, at the rate the negotiations were going. He was going to do whatever it took to get them all home where they belonged. 

He stopped near the river that marked the halfway point and crouched down in the bushes, he'd barely been asleep an hour when she'd thrown the bag in his face, and he'd been up since before dawn to help over see some hunters in training within the camp. The 12 year olds practiced with fake spears-which were really just long sticks found in the woods that the kids would later clean and sharpen-and Bellamy was sure he'd have plenty of bruises to show for it when the sun came up.

He'd been walking for a few hours now, which meant he only had one more to make it to the Delinquents before one of the villagers noticed he wasn't ready with the hunting party and went to check his tent. He shifted the rucksack on his back and took off at a quick pace through the woods, eyes darting around the darkness for grounders and creatures alike.

The first hues of pale orange were starting to creep into the sky when he spotted the gate. Crude and dangerous, long poles of wood with jagged edges mixed with sheet metal protected the camp from most outsiders, with a large gate that didn't look like it'd been opened since being built, as the grass in front of it remained perfectly intact.

He was crouched behind a tree, looking above and around him for any signs of grounders, “Clarke, where are they?”

Most of them left, there are still a few of them around front. Go to your left in a wide ark. None of them want to come near the dropship itself. Clarke told him. He pushed out of his hiding spot and sunk back into the darkness circling around slowly. He spotted a few grounders and had to take extra precautions to go around them.

He would have found the entrance without her help, it was pretty obvious. A large chunk of grass was scraped away and stomped down where a metal panel swung open to allow access right next to the massive ship. However, she was there. Dirty, bloodied, her blonde hair a matted mess, but there she was. Clarke Griffin.

She was breathtaking.

“Bellamy?” she asked, and not for the first time he remembered they had no idea what the other looked like.

“Clarke.” he answered, grinning. She grinned back, and ran at him as fast as she could, arms locking around his neck as her body slammed into his. He wrapped his arms around her back, catching her and holding them both strong. She was warm and soft in his arms, and it felt like electricity was racing through his veins as he held her.

It was wonderful. And short-lived. 

“Lets get a move on, lovers. Suns coming up.” Raven called from the entrance, eyes darting around the trees. Clarke's face was a pleasant shade of pink when he finally let her drop to her feet. She smiled up at him, bashful for only a second, before turning around and marching back into camp with him on her heels. Raven shut the door behind them with a solid bang.

Only a few people were awake so far. Those who were on breakfast duty. There was a cooking fire in the middle of camp and a spit fire roasting a small pig a few feet away that was dwindling down, “lets get you hidden until everyone is awake.” Clarke whispered, reaching back and taking his hand. Hers was warm and small with dry patches on her fingers where callouses were beginning to form. 

-

The tiny tents that they'd managed to form were rough. There were holes in most of the tarps, old worn branches shoved into the ground to hold them up and buckets to catch the rain water. The beds were made out of old seats and jackets that were of no use during the day. 

Bellamy felt squashed by his past, sitting in Clarke's tent. The memories of those first days when he was hurt, staring up at a ripped tarp while fading in and out of consciousness, through the war and the fighting, before they had resources and Lexa's treaty, the power of the coalition. 

The coalition that was going to fall apart if the Ice Nation had its way. It was likely that the Broadleaf clan would soon join them, the way that negotiations were going. Lexa was losing the fight to free the delinquents, and it didn't seem like it that was going to change anytime soon.

Bellamy finally had time to go through what Lexa had managed to pack for him, most of it was medicine like he predicted, two books on plants that can be made into medicine and food, and a copy of Greek Myths.

Lexa had given it to him years ago, when she'd first taken over. His mother had mentioned his story telling to Lexa one night, the way he'd tell a tale to the kids in camp before bed, to distract them from the war outside and carry them into peaceful dreams. As much as Bellamy did not like Lexa, he appreciated the gesture and everything she was doing to help his people.

Clarke was outside now, gathering up the groups. He could hear her voice, and if he closed his eyes he could see the scared teens staring up at her. Most looked confused by his words, a survivor? From the Ark? One of the problem delinquents, Dax, Bellamy thought, was getting red in the face listening to her.

Then Murphy stood up, and Bellamy had the vaguest memory of his sick mother and helping him steal meds, “We're not talking about just anyone here, we're talking about Bellamy. A kid who helped me get medicine for my mother, and helped all of us if we needed it. Sure, it was a long time ago, but there's no way we don't remember. Just give him a chance, he wants to help us.”

The group murmured nervously among themselves, looking up at Clarke, Raven and Murphy waiting for something to tell them how to react. A girl with long brown hair and dirt smudges across her face spoke up first, “Fine. If he's here to help us, then why is he hiding in a tent?”

“Because I didn't want anyone to freak out until we had a chance to explain. If you saw him, wouldn't you think he was a grounder? Would you have attacked him?” Clarke asked, murmurs of agreement answered her and she nodded, “Bellamy.” 

Taking a deep breath Bellamy stood, exiting the tent flap into the bright morning sun to face the 90 or so delinquents. They all looked at him warily, studying his clothes, his face, his hair. He looked down at his ripped jeans left over from adults that had died after the war, and the shirt he'd received from the Woods Clan. He was a balance between the Arkers and the Grounders. As he was to his people, so he was to them.

Clarke stepped over beside him, tugging him down onto a log in the circle, “things aren't going well with the negotiations between the grounder clans, and if we ever get out of here we're going to have to learn to live with these grounders. There are rules and treaties and a billion other complicated things to deal with in life down here on Earth. The Ark sent us down here to die, Bellamy and the grounders are our chance to live.”

“He smells funny.” Fox commented, wrinkling her nose, “but he looks familiar. I think he snagged me an apple once, back on the Ark.” Bellamy smiled, ducking his head to hide the blush to his cheeks. The questions started after that. 

How had he survived? How were their people? What were the nice grounders like? What was the camp like? Was there radiation sickness? Did they have showers and soap? It went on for two hours before Clarke called the meeting to an end. Breakfast was cleaned up and the hunting party prepared to go out. Bellamy wanted to go with them but knew that it would be foolish. 

Instead he watched as Clarke set out with them through their secret door. 

As soon as she was gone Murphy was beside him, “What are we going to do if Lexa isn't able to save us? Fight the clan? Wouldn't that break the treaty?”

“Not if they attack you first. If you do not attack they can't kill you. You didn't drop the ship on the little girl. But they don't see it that way. Jus drein jus daun. It means blood must have blood. It's the grounder way.”

“Even if we manage to get out of here, we'll have a hard time learning their ways.” Murphy observed, “Unless you can teach us? I think that might be a good plan. You know about the grounders, about important traditions. At the very least you can teach us how to not break the treaty.”

“Most of these kids want to learn how to fight, they're terrified.” Raven appeared on his other side, “We have to figure out how to make them understand that it will look like a threat.”

Bellamy nodded and the trio found a place on the edge of the camp to watch and plan. Clarke was gone for what seemed to be forever but Bellamy could feel that she was okay. It was easier to block each other out, now that they were both on the ground, without cutting off the connection.

“Monty and I have been trying to get back in contact with the Ark. To let them know we're okay. Back at your camp, do you have a lot of old comm stuff?” 

“Most of its broken, but yeah. Diana Sydney turned it all off, but it got destroyed by the war. It might be salvageable. But you'd have a better idea about that then I would.” Raven nodded, standing and heading toward the dropship.

Clarke and the group came back after sun down with an impressive haul. Another group set to work cleaning and cooking it all while the hunting party dispersed to different tents. Clarke went straight into the dropship.

“She's going to check on Charlotte. You should go check on her.” Murphy advised, “I've gotta go get started on dinner.”

Bellamy nodded and they walked together silently, breaking in the middle of camp so Murphy could go to the pile of animals as Bellamy made his way into the dropship. It looked nearly the same as their own had, gutted and turned into a medbay. 

Clarke was easy to find, kneeling beside a small girl on a makeshift cot. She was unconscious still but looked better than she had the last time Bellamy had seen her. The medicine from Lexa had helped. He was glad. Bellamy left Clarke alone when she turned away from him, deciding to go help Murphy and the others with the food.

Later that night the delinquents sat around the fire, listening to Bellamy's stories of Earth, of grounders and the treaty. Most of their days went similarly, and everyone tried to ignore the lingering presence of the grounders.

After about a week Bellamy noticed the numbers dwindled, and slowly the faces appearing outside of the camp became familiar. These were Trikru. Something had happened, and now Bellamy could only wait to see if Lexa would come to their rescue or if something had broken their truce.


	10. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There's a small mention of canon-level violence in this chapter. Nothing graphic,

Clarke thought it was funny, really, that the one day she decided the hunting party is to not go out-the sky was dark on the horizon and the air charged with the incoming storm-that the camp's front gate has a visitor. A loud banging silenced the camp midway through their day.

Her eyes flicked over to Bellamy, who looked just as stunned as she did, before the two of them took off for the gate. “Ai laik Linkon gon trikru. Ai come gon Klark gon skai kru.” A deep and vaguely familiar voice called through the gate. Octavia's husband.

Bellamy took one look at Clarke, nervous, before he opened the gate. He motioned for Lincoln to come inside quickly, eyes darting around the trees. Clarke stomach was a knotted mess as she scanned the perimeter. 

“Follow me.” Bellamy ordered, marching off toward a tent at the edge of the camp. Clarke and Lincoln followed him without a word and Raven fell in step behind them. She stood guard at the front of the tent, making sure nobody over heard what they shouldn't, “Why did Lexa send you for Clarke?”

“Those watching the camp have deemed Clarke their Heda.” Bellamy cursed under his breath, pacing around the small tent, “She is to come with me and talk with Heda, to try and forge a peace with the Broadleaf clan. They want to be understanding.”

Clarke frowned, “I can't leave. Charlotte is only now waking up but she's not better yet. I can't leave here here.” Clarke glanced toward Bellamy for any help, an answer. She couldn't leave her people now, Bellamy had to understand that.

“You have to Clarke, if we have any chance of getting home.” Bellamy whispered to her utter dismay, “I trust Lincoln, he is my brother. He will take care of you. Can someone come with her?”

“Not you, but yes someone else may accompany her.” Lincoln answered, crossing his arms and glancing around the small tent. It had been Clarke's for the majority of her stay here. She only had a few things, old papers, charcoals, a drawing of her father.

Clarke eyed Lincoln nervously, really looking at him for the first time since he stepped into the makeshift camp. He was huge, and imposing taking up nearly half of the space in the tent, but she'd also seen him dance with Octavia-holding her like she was the most precious thing in the world. Bellamy trusted him, and she does too, but Charlotte depended on her.

And Octavia depended on Bellamy and Lincoln, yet here they were. Helping the delinquents from the sky. People they didn't know, because of her connection to Bellamy. 

“Have you been stuck over here the whole time too?” she asked softly, Lincoln gave a short nod, “Okay. We have to explain to everyone that I'm leaving and I've got to check on Charlotte, but then we'll go. ” Clarke agreed.

“You have to take someone with you.”

“I'll take Murphy.” Clarke shrugged, “you and Raven can handle everyone else, right? I'd take Wells but I don't want Dax to start up on his whole Prince and Princess tirade again.” she shook her head at the thought.

“Fine, take Murphy.” Bellamy grunted.

-

Nobody argued, not even Dax, and they all agreed that between Raven and Bellamy the camp could run smoothly without Clarke and Murphy. She doesn't like the idea of the hunting party going without her, but Wells assured her that he'd be fine leading them, gave her a hug, and disappeared to finish his current task.

Still, she made them agree not to go out until the storm had passed.

Bellamy walked them to the gate. He and Lincoln exchange a weird handshake, a warriors handshake she thought, and then he turns to Clarke, unsure. She's the one who initiated the hug, throwing her arms around his neck like the first time they'd met, “may we meet again.” she whispered in his ear.

Clarke didn't hear the gate shut as they entered the woods. She can feel eyes on her as they walk, but she keeps her gaze forward to the ground, “Has Bellamy explained to you about the soulmate bond, what that means to our people?” Lincoln asked her conversationally. Murphy snorted beside her, walking a little faster.

“He never really wanted to elaborate beyond soulmates. I think the idea freaks him out, and me too. I mean I barely know him how is he supposed to be my soulmate?” Clarke shook her head at the thought, “so no, he hasn't.”

“Our people believe that the sight is a gift from the Gods, to allow great leaders to come together and change the world. It is rare, and while you are both from the Sky, Bellamy has proved himself a grounder over the years so they are willing to let this go. At a price. Lexa has already spoken for the Trikru, who would be responsible for all of you, but you must speak for the Skaikru's crime.”

Clarke nodded, unsure of her voice. She wanted to ask what that meant, what Lexa could possibly agree to that related to her and Bellamy, but she couldn't voice those questions. She walked beside Lincoln in silence, farther into the trees than she'd ever let the hunters go. Murphy walked ahead of them, seeming carefree. She knew that wasn't the case though, and every time he heard a noise he would freeze and tense up.

“Whatever you do, just remember that this is for your people. Nobody planned this, but we do what we must to survive. You will do great things Clarke, you and Bellamy are meant to. Its the way of our people. They will be looking at you as not only an outsider but as the leader of outsiders.”

The walk took until well into the evening, but soon a village came into view. People were everywhere, none she recognized from Bellamy's days here before Lexa had sent him to their camp. She followed Lincoln closely, unsure of what she was getting into. Eyes followed her every step, she could hear angered whispering. Murphy fell into step to her right, hovering behind her like a guard.

Like he stood a chance against the grounders. 

They made their way straight through the village towards a large tent. Clarke knew that was where the leaders would meet. Taking a deep breath she stood up tall and relaxed her face into a blank expression, something she'd seen her mother do a dozen and a half times. Murphy gave her shoulder a reassuring squeeze.

Lincoln motioned for them to wait outside and stepped into the tent. She heard Lincoln's deep voice talking in his native language and turned to Murphy, “it'll be okay. Soon we'll be heading off to whatever is our new home.” 

“Whatever they decide to do with me, don't try and stop them. I don't know much, but this is about a child we killed.” Murphy nodded, he understood. 

Lincoln reappeared soon he was waving them inside, “Heda Leksa, disha ste Klark gon skaikru, Murphy gon Skaikru. Clarke, Murphy this is our commander Lexa.” 

Clarke stepped up to Lexa's throne, offering her hand. Lexa took two quick steps toward her and gripped her forearm tightly, staring her down. Clarke stared right back, her face revealing none of the nervousness she felt. Lexa released her arm, stepping back and sinking down into her throne, legs crossed, expression pointed.

She glanced over at Murphy for a few seconds before her eyes flickered back to Clarke. She nodded her head sharply, her face twisting into a blank expression. Behind her the tent opened and a man swept in. He was Lincoln's height and almost three times his size, impossibly big for a human.

“This is Vincen. He is the Cheif of the Broadleaf clan. It was his daughter who was killed when you landed.” Lexa informed her, Clarke looked over at him, expression softening and apology on her lips, “It is our tradition that blood must have blood. Bellamy made a compelling argument on your behalf, you had no control of your landing.”

Lexa paused, turning to Vincen. He turned to Clarke, “It is our tradition that if you kill an innocent you must bear the mark. Not being your intention does not negate your fault in the act. Do you accept?”

Clarke doesn't know what that could mean, but if it meant they could leave their shitty camp she'd do it. She'd do anything to get them home.

“OK.” Clarke answered, Lincoln's words from earlier still ringing in her head. What did she and Bellamy need to agree to? Why was Lexa not mentioning that? This wasn't his fault. Clarke and Murphy were lead into another tent by Lincoln and a scary looking woman she later recognized as Indra. She was changed into a pair of loose pants and a shirt that wrapped around her chest, leaving her back exposed. 

Someone came in and twisted her hair in an intricate series of braids, twisting them up and away from her back and face. 

“Jus drein jus daun.” people were chanting, loudly outside. Clarke didn't know what it meant but it terrified her down to her bones. Murphy didn't speak, standing silently at her side. Indra and Lincoln leave her alone in the tent for a few moments, both standing outside.

“Are you sure about this, Clarke?” 

“Someone has to answer for her death, Murphy, and it might as well be me. Soon enough we'll all be on our way to a new life. Away from the Ark and it's rules. No more Death looming over our heads.” Clarke answered, “But no, I'm not sure. I'm scared shitless.”

Soon Indra is leading her out of the tent and into the center of the town by a fierce grip on her upper arm. Murphy and Lincoln are behind her, but they stop at the edge of the group of people. She can feel Bellamy trying to see through her eyes, “focus on camp.” she managed to growl before forcing him out.

Clarke's forced to kneel in the dirt in front of Vincen whose holding a wicked looking knife that glows in the fire light. Her eyes flicker to Murphy who is scowling. Ready to fight. She gives a quick shake of her head. Lincoln gripped his shoulder, and Murphy winced in pain.

Vincen is speaking but its all in their language and Clarke doesn't understand a word of it, she's almost glad. Lexa joins Vincen in the middle of the square before her and motions for Clarke to bow her head. She does as she's told, closing her eyes. She doesn't want to see what is about to happen to her.

Vincen's voice is loud and fierce, “Jus drein jus daun!” The slash of the knife is harsh, across the back of her shoulder blade, from the top of her shoulder to the top of the shirt.. She can feel the blood running down her back, people make noise of appreciation. She braces herself for another cut but it doesn't come, instead someone presses a burning metal against it. Clarke yelps in surprise as her flesh is cauterized. 

She feels Bellamy break through her wall, **What's going on Clarke?**

“Nothing, Bell, I'm fine.” Clarke whispered back. Her voice shakes and she has to dig her fingers into the soil to keep from crying. 

**You're lying to me.**

“And?” Clarke snarked. Lexa was talking again, saying something Clarke couldn't understand, again. It was becoming a pattern but Clarke didn't care. Indra's grip was firm on her arm again, dragging her to her feet.

“Jus drein jus daun. Klark gon skai kru paid kom jus.” Lexa announced. 

**Clarke. You didn't do anything wrong!**

“It doesn't matter, Bellamy.” Clarke sighed, Indra towed her away, “In their eyes we are responsible. My people, my responsibility. I did what I had to do, for them. For us. A future.”

“Which was stupid.” Murphy muttered, suddenly beside her, “Make sure Blake knows that.” Clarke elbowed him in the side. Murphy chuckled. Indra snorted in annoyance. 

**Clarke...hurry home safe.** His voice was tinged with an emotion Clarke couldn't place but her stomach fluttered nervously as a wave of affection overtook her. 

“See you, Bell.” she whispered back. 

Indra led her back into the changing tent, Lexa swept in behind them, “as a show of good faith to Trikru, you will agree to train as a warrior under Indra alongside Octavia. And as Aurora specified, anyone else who is above 16 and willing to train.”

“We're inexperienced with every type of weapon, I'm sure your scouts have reported that. We would be grateful for the chance to learn.” she didn't know what else to do, she'd heard Bellamy's arguments a dozen times but they needed to learn.

“Yeah, I'm sure we could pick it up pretty fast, though.” Murphy agreed, “we appreciate the chance to learn what we can and do our part.”

When had he turned so diplomatic? Clarke was impressed, to say the least.

They needed Lexa, and Indra's, protection. They'd already killed someone, Clarke was marked a murderer, and they couldn't afford to start bickering about it now, “We will leave at dawn to collect your people. For now you will rest here.” Lexa motioned to two piles of furs, “Lincoln will stand watch, if you need anything ask him. Someone will come get you for dinner.”

“Thank you.” Clarke whispered. Lexa gave her a short nod and moved out, Indra behind her. 

“Are you really okay with the warrior thing?” Murphy asked in a whisper, “I know Blake wasn't too thrilled about it.”

“Bellamy has had more time on the ground and he's seen a different side of things then we have. But we committed an act of war, essentially. I'm willing to take whatever they offer us if it gets us to the rest of our people. If we can have a home without someone hovering murder over our heads.”

Murphy laughed, “somehow I don't think that is going to go away.”

“Maybe not, but for now there are options.” she motioned to her shoulder.

“True. That was impressive, by the way. You didn't even cry. I'm impressed, Doc.” Clarke smirked up at him, “so are you going to ask to learn about medicine?”

“I don't know.” Clarke answered. 

“Dinner.” Lincoln called back to them, pushing the tent open. She pushed herself up off of the furs, her shoulder sending a shooting pain down her back. Murphy caught her and stabilized her before she fell back. 

They followed Lincoln over to the fires, sitting down on a log that was mostly near a vacant pit. Lincoln went and grabbed them food and returned, sitting down between them.

“You did good today.” Lincoln told her, “Broadleaf is among the more peaceful clans and most of them seem satisfied with your payment.”

“I wasn't sure what was going to happen. Bellamy hasn't told me much about being down here on the ground. Up on the Ark everything is a capital crime, and if you're over 18 your floated.” Lincoln gave her a baffled look, “They never explained what that means?”

“No, not after Diana Sydney was killed.” 

“Fuck Diana Sydney.” Murphy muttered, cutting Lincoln off. She'd been chancellor when he'd been thrown in the SkyBox for trying to save his mother.

“Aurora only wanted what was best for her people, freedom and a life on the ground. And I was a boy then, so if they talked about life up on the Ark it didn't really stick. Octavia was too little to remember much, either.”

Clarke nodded, it made sense that nobody would want to talk about it. They would just want to move on, and be thankful that there could be new rules. Down on Earth supplies weren't limited, “Up on the Ark if you were found guilty they'd stick you in an air lock-a door way that lead out to the sky- and open it. You'd be dead the second the door opened.

It originally started as a way of burying our dead and returning them to Earth. In peace, may you leave the shore. In love, may you find the next. Safe passage on your travels until our final journey to the ground. May we meet again. I used to think it was a beautiful ceremony. I'd never actually seen anyone floated. Until my dad found a problem with the Ark and when he wanted to go public he was floated and I was thrown in lockup.”

“Bellamy says your people are all from the Skybox. That you're all criminals, but that could mean anything from stealing medicine to murder.”

“Most of us are just in for small infractions. Only two of us that I know of were in for anything serious and even then...” her mind flashed to Dax, the only one in their for a serious crime besides herself. She wasn't sure what it was, he claimed her murdered a guard but Clarke didn't remember hearing anything about it.

“What were you two in the Sky Box for?” Lincoln asked softly.

Clarke looked down at her half eaten plate, “Treason. That's my official crime. I was trying to save us.”

“Stealing.” Murphy told him, “my mom was sick, like really sick, but she'd had her limit on meds so I went in and faked something. Grabbed her meds when I got a chance...and then I ran into little baby Clarke Griffin and I was tossed in the sky box. Almost didn't get to save my mom, but somehow the meds ended up in her apartment anyways.”

Clarke flushed, she didn't know Murphy knew that she'd picked up some of the meds. After all his mom still died anyways. 

Lincoln led them back to their tent after their meal and Clarke slunk down into the furs, her stomach full and her head heavy. Murphy collapsed in the other pile and was snoring in minutes. She closed her eyes and without much effort was back in the camp. Bellamy, Raven, and Wells were all sitting together around one side of the fire and a few other delinquents were with them, they were talking and laughing. She could see more fires and more kids beyond and food cooking.

The storm had never reached, but they'd gone out anyways. She couldn't find it in herself to be mad, they had food and they were taken care of. She would let Bellamy have the rest of his night to relax. She quickly backed her way out of Bellamy's head, opening her eyes to stare at Lincolns silhouette. Eventually her eyes closed and she was in a dreamless sleep.

-

Lincoln and Indra woke them at dawn, the latter dragging her up from the furs without much ceremony. Clarke's hair was mostly still pinned with only a few random pieces falling into her face. She pushed those back out of the way and followed Indra across the camp, Murphy stumbling blearily behind her.

“They have given us two carts and two horses, and we also have Bellamy's horse so we can carry what few things you guys have back to our camp and Aurora can take what she needs back to her camp.” Lexa told Indra before her eyes found Clarke and Murphy, “Do you want to ride a horse?”

“Definitely.” Clarke and Murphy answered together. 

Lincoln showed them how to mount the horse, taught them how to control the walk and then they were off, back toward the dropship. Clarke was giddy with excitement about the horse whose name was Layla. She was Bellamy's and she was beautiful, just like the horses from her books back on the Ark. Murphy was, surprisingly, excited and quite good at riding the horse he'd been given.

“We're coming back, Bellamy, we get to go home.” Clarke whispered, hoping that he was awake to hear her.

**See you soon,Clarke.** Bellamy answered, **we'll get started on packing.**

His voice made her stomach do that nervous fluttering again. That was going to be something she needed to talk to him about, sooner rather than later.

“So, Doc, when are you planning on telling Blake you agreed to training to become a warrior?” Clarke shrugged, “Really? You think he's gonna be okay with it?”

Clarke frowned down at her hands, gripping the horses reins, “I don't think he's going to be happy about it, but we literally almost started a war. I don't think we can afford not to learn, to be prepared. We came down here for freedom, and if this is how we get it so be it.”

“You just want to learn how to use a sword.” Murphy accused.

“I saw you eyeing those crossbows, John.” Clarke shot back. He grinned at her and she laughed, feeling lighter than she had since before her father had been floated, “it's optional. I want to learn. He can't be mad about it. Well he can, but it doesn't matter. If he's really my soulmate...then it'll be okay.”

“You know when Reyes and Monty get to that camp they're going to start contacting the Ark. Or trying again. Is it bad that I don't want them to come down, at least not yet?” Murphy asked, frowning down at his hands.

“No, its not. I don't either. They have a tendency to start wars. They've got to be prepared to work with the grounders, not against. This isn't our world, it's theirs.” Clarke mumbled to herself, mostly, thinking of her mother and Jaha back on the Ark.

Lexa and Lincoln paused in front of them, waiting for them to catch up before pointing down toward their camp. Clarke was impressed, honestly, with how well their little settlement had become. She could see piles of belongings and essentials piled around the camp, places where the walls were starting to come down.

Bellamy and Raven were standing by a group of kids and some electronics and Wells was helping some of the younger ones fold up material, old tents, clothing, whatever else was laying around. She smiled, looking to Lexa, “thank you. For everything.”

Lexa's dark eyes were unreadable but she nodded and spurred her horse into motion, heading down the hill toward their camp. Murphy and Clarke followed her quickly, Clarke laughing as the horse broke into a quick run and her stomach flipped at the sudden weightless feeling she got.

The ground was turning out to be everything she'd wanted and more.


End file.
